Rise of the Arrow
by DragoVrede
Summary: AU events: Marooned on the Island together Sara and Oliver go through every step together, with a twist along the way. Re-write of Season one featuring both Arrow, Canary and a connection to the league. After 5 years they return not the carefree boy and girl that left but the warriors they became and together they have returned to bring justice to those that poison their city.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Arrow or anything else you may recognize. All characters belong to their creators. With the Exception of Alddam Mastir.**

 **So, this is my first attempt at writing a FanFic. I used to love the series but lately, during season 4, I saw so many errors in the way the characters were written and the way that they seemed to revert to teenage drama, Olicity, especially. Don't get me wrong I loved Olicity but at this point, I've had enough of their **** to last me a lifetime. The pairings here may not be what you want but eh it's my version get over it. Now don't get me wrong I'll take any tips and suggestions you may have, however, I do already have an idea of where I want to take this story.**

 _[Unnamed Island]_

 _A man in a green hood breathes heavily whilst running through the lush green forest, running and jumping using the low-hanging branches of the trees all around him. He reaches a cliff wall and begins to climb, once on top, he sprints and jumps onto the next cliff reaching a clearing, he takes a moment to look out at sea and sees what looks like to be a fishing boat. He runs to a fallen tree where he had stored his bow and arrows, he takes a special arrow covered in tar and using a knife strapped to his thigh he flicks it and the arrow is engulfed in flame; He carefully takes aim down at the shore, where a pile of logs has been placed as a marker, he gages the wind and releases the arrow. Upon impact, the marker explodes in a ball of fire. The fishermen see the explosion and decide to investigate. As soon as the man sees the lifeboat out on the water the man in the hood reaches back into the fallen tree and takes out a rams-horn and blows on it three times. Suddenly, from somewhere else on the island another horn is blown in response. The man in the hood smiles and runs towards the beach awaiting the lifeboat and his companions._

 _[Home base on Unnamed Island]_

 _After, having blown the horn in response to the man in the hood, a man dressed in a deep dark red bordering black robe reminiscent of the tang-Zhuang style, sporting long thick wavy hair down to his shoulders with eyes that seem impossible, one is grey almost white in color while the other is a vibrant blue which pop even more with contrast to his darkened skin, this man is almost three times the size of the man in the hood yet shorter; He hurriedly walks to the other side of camp where a woman and a child barely 4 years old are resting. He wakes them up and whispers to the mother "it's time to go home, at long last." Quickly the woman, a blonde sporting a pair of ripped jeans, a black tank top and a black leather jacket wakes the sleeping child, an almost exact copy of her mother except for the piercing blue eyes that she inherited from her father, as the man gathers what they need. Once he's done he looks at the woman and child with a smile and together they head to the marker. They reach it around the same time as the man in the hood and upon seeing the fisherman slowly approach they fall to their knees as the man in the hood slowly reveals the face hidden behind the hood, a man somewhere in his mid to late twenties with shaggy hair, a long beard and deep piercing blue eyes._

 **The name of the island they found us on is** _ **Lian Yu**_ **. It's mandarin for "purgatory". I've been stranded here along with the woman I love, our child and a brother we made along the way, for 5 years. We've dreamt of our rescue every cold black night since then. For 5 years, we have had only one thought, one goal… survive…** **survive and one day return home. The island held many dangers. To live, we had to make ourselves more than what we were, to forge ourselves into weapons not only for ourselves but for our shining light as well, a child born in the depths of chaos that helped us find reason to keep on living. I am returning not the boy who was shipwrecked but the man who will bring justice to those who have poisoned my city, and together with the woman I love and the man I call my brother in everything but blood. My name is Oliver Queen.**

 _[Starling City 5 days later]_

 **News** **Anchorman** : _Oliver Queen is alive. The Starling City resident was found by fishermen in the North China sea 5 days ago, 5 years after he was missing and presumed dead following the accident at sea which claimed "The Queen's Gambit." Queen was a regular tabloid presence and a fixture at the Starling City club scene until 6 months prior to departure after having been spotted with an anonymous woman later to be confirmed as Sara Lance, daughter of local detective Quinten Lance and his wife Dinah. We have not yet confirmed whether Ms. Lance was with Mr. Queen at the island although there are rumors of a woman and a mystery man being recovered along with Mr. Queen from the island. Queen is the son of Starling City billionaire Robert Queen, who was also on board but now officially confirmed as deceased._

 _[Starling City Hospital]_

"They refuse to be separated, all four of them seem to have formed a bond during their ordeal that has made them a family of sorts," Dr. Lamb told both Moira Queen and Quinten Lance. He looked over to Moira, "20% of Oliver's body is covered in scar tissue. Second-degree burns on his back and arms. X-rays show at least 12 fractures that never properly healed." He then turned to Quinten "Sara has similar injuries 12% of her body is covered in scar tissue, at least 6 fractures that never healed properly, and it has been confirmed that the child is hers and Oliver's."

"And how is she doctor? I-Is she healthy anything wrong with her?" Quinten and Moira asked with concern all over their faces. The doctor smiled at them "Don't worry she is in perfect condition, it seems that despite whatever happened to the four of them, the three adults protected the child from everything and kept her healthy given the conditions."

"The four of them?" Moira asked confused as she looked into the room only seeing Sara and Oliver with their child in-between them staring at the city before them.

"Yes. There was a man discovered with them and since their arrival, he has stood guard over the other three. When we first tried to separate them both Oliver and the man stood in front of Sara and the child as if daring us to try and separate them." Dr. Lamb told the worried parents. "His injuries are by far the worst, almost 26% of his body is covered in scar tissue, second-degree burns on his arm and leg, during the X-ray we were also able to identify shrapnel under some of the scarred tissue. This type of damage would be typical of a war veteran. If he was in the military before the island I can understand why he is so protective of the other three, his instincts to keep them all safe. However, from what we've gathered it seems that all his injuries have been with the last 5 years"

"Dear God, what have they experienced that has all of them with so many injuries?" Quinten asked looking at the small family with fear and worry written all over his face. "Also, where is this mystery man, I only see my daughter, Oliver and their child?"

"He is most likely in a corner keeping watch over them, He has scared a couple of nurses not realizing he was also in the room with them." Dr. Lamb stated

"Have they said anything about what happened?" Moira asked with concern.

"They've only spoken to one another, and barely at that, it seems whatever they experienced bonded them to the point they don't need to communicate. When we tried to separate them, there were no words spoken they just reacted after a quick glance to one another. So, Quinten, Moira I want to warn you that the Oliver and Sara that you lost may not be the ones they found." The doctor warned them as he opened the door to let them in.

Moira and Quinten exchanged worried glances before proceeding into the room. The small family of three stood by the window taking in the view of the city they called home. With their backs turned to Moira and Quinten and seemed not to notice them as they approached.

Moira spoke first hesitantly and with a small voice, "Oliver, Sara." Quinten spoke next, "Baby girl, Oliver."

Upon hearing their voices, they turned around slowly as Oliver picked up his daughter in his arms. The small family looked at their parents with their child putting her head on her daddy's shoulder. The couple looked at their parents as if they were trying to recognize them for what felt like minutes but in reality, it lasted seconds and upon recognizing their family they smiled. All the while in the corner of the room the mystery man watched from the shadows.

"Hi, mom." Oliver said simply. "Hey, daddy." Sara said her eyes filled with joy. Both Quinten and Moira rushed and hugged their children respectively and then the other. Once they were done, Oliver spoke to both of them, "Mom, Mr. Lance I'd like you to meet our daughter and the reason we never gave up, Thea Dinah Queen!" At hearing her name the little girl looks up from her daddy's shoulder and smiles shyly at them. "Thea honey these are your grandparent's Moira, your daddy's mom, and Quinten, my dad." Sara explained to her daughter as she pointed at the pair.

The shy smile she was displaying earlier was replaced with a smile from ear-to-ear, as she waved at them. "hi!" was all she had to say to make both Moira and Quinten smile right back and hug her. After, the introduction Oliver spoke again. "Mom, Mr. Lance there is someone else I'd like to introduce to you." He pointed towards the dark corner of the room, too dark to see anything there until a figure stepped out into the light. Both Moira and Quinten were taken aback not only by the sudden appearance but also by the eyes of the man now standing in front of them.

Unlike Oliver the man had left his black hair long, although he did shave just like Oliver. His eyes are often the first thing people notice about him, having one gray in color and the other a vibrant blue. Quinten took the man in and noted that he was shorter than Oliver but his body looked three times the size of Oliver, although in reality he was only twice the size. The way he moved was fluid almost like a dance. Moira looked him over before Sara spoke up, "We'd like you to meet Alddam Mastir, or if you prefer to call him by the name we gave him since it took us 2 years to say his name right, Ken Masters; He helped deliver Thea and he was one of the major reasons that we have finally made it home." At the sound of his name Alddam nodded in respect to both parents.

Quinten nodded back and stretched out his hand, "It's a pleasure to meet you and you have my everlasting gratitude for helping them find their way back to us." Alddam looked at the man and then at Moira and spoke in a voice that was deep yet kindly, "In all reality it was our combined efforts that helped us get here, I was lucky to find them and we were lucky to make it." Moira looked at the way the man stood and talked, she could see that he was not someone to fear but trust. "I'm glad that you found them and they found you as you say, because thanks to that we now have them back and not only that but two new additions to our family." Moira stated.

Alddam looked at her with his head tilted slightly to the left, "What do you mean two new additions? I only count young Thea as the newest addition." Moira smiled at the man and spoke "You are family now too, you kept our family safe and brought them back to us. By your actions alone you are family now." Quinten looked at Ken and nodded in agreement. Thea looked at Ken and smiled when her grandparents recognized him as family as well. "Uncle Ken, can I get a ride?" Ken Masters chuckled and went over to her and sat her on his shoulders and walked around as Thea giggled.

"She likes him a lot, doesn't she?" Quinten asked. Both Sara and Oliver Smiled at the pair walking around, "Yeah, having been together for so long he took it upon himself to care for her as if she was his own, sometimes putting himself in harm's way to protect her." Sara said.

Moira was the next to speak, "Well I think it's best to leave and let you rest, Dr. Lamb has given us your discharge papers and you will be able to leave tomorrow morning." She looked at Quinten before adding, "Quinten invite Laurel over to the Mansion tomorrow so we can get brunch together." Quinten smiled, "Yeah, of course, I'll let her know." Looking back at Sara he asked, "Do you want me to tell her about Thea or do you want to just surprise her tomorrow?"

Sara turned to see Ken giving Thea airplane rides before she spoke, "I think it's more believable in person don't you think?" with and amused smile on her face. Quinten laughed and nodded his head in response.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Arrow or anything else you may recognize. All characters belong to their creators. With the Exception of Alddam Mastir.**

 **Now I really want pointers on this chapter. Where do I need to improve? Where do I have to give more of an explanation? Would a back story on how Alddam Mastir became to be, help any? These first couple of chapters will be me finding my writing style, having only written poems before this is a fun new experience for me.**

 **[A little while after]**

Thea is asleep on the bed as the three adults move towards the window and look out into the night. Sara resting her head-on Oliver's shoulder. "We're finally home Ollie, after so long we finally made it back," she says as she looks up at his face "And now we need to start making arrangements for the days that follow." Oliver looking down at the love of his life smiles and kisses her gently on the lips. "We also need to find someone and keep the promise you made to a dying man. We will do whatever it takes to keep her safe, I promise." Sara smiled and hugged him tighter, at the motion Oliver wrapped her in his arms and kissed the top of her head. "I love you, Ollie."

Oliver smiled and looked at her, "I love you too." He then looked over at his brother in arms and before he could even ask Ken replied, "The league has finished setting up our base, and we must remember that the only aid they will provide is in the form of tools and weaponry, aside from that only 4 members aside from myself have been giving the go- ahead to assist you, in this cleansing." Oliver and Sara both nodded in response.

"However, I would like to keep their involvement in this minimal, serve as body guards, babysitters and assisting us when we are indisposed. If the rumors are true that a rogue member is planning something against this city, it's in our best interest to find out and stop them." Ken looked at the pair before continuing, "Al Sah-Him, Ta-er al-Usfar, this city shall be cleansed from the evil that threatens it. I as Alddam Mastir, Son of Ra's al Ghul and Heir to the Demon from this point on, in the name of Ra's al Ghul, release you from your oath."

The couple bow to Ken and smile before opening their arms to embrace their brother. "Now that you are free you can live as you want to fulfill your father's dying wish, and I shall aid you as a brother and mentor in the name of Ra's. Now get some sleep, we have busy weeks ahead of us." He finished with a grin.

 **[Next morning]**

"I hope you guys slept well. It's time to finally get you out of here and take you home." Moira said with a smile.

"Everyone is waiting for you there, and no one knows about your surprise, baby girl." Quinten added to his daughter, who was holding Thea tightly as she was still asleep.

"She looks so peaceful and she reminds me of you when you were a little girl." He continues as Sara and Oliver smile at their daughter. Moira looks at them and can't help but smile at the man her son has become. She looks up noticing that Ken is not in sight and looks at them, "Where is Ken? I haven't seen him." Oliver looked at his mother and smiled, "He's getting everything that we brought with us from the island, he's probably waiting for us down by the car as we speak."

Sara turned to Moira before adding, "Then I guess we better hurry or he'll try and get out of having brunch with us all." Both Sara and Oliver laughed and at the confused look that they received from their parents Oliver added, "He's sort of not used to crowds, before the island he was quite of a loner from what we could gather, it's the reason he likes to stay in the shadows. It took us a bit of time to break his shell but he still prefers to be alone over crowds."

"Oh, well I don't want him to feel uncomfortable, if he doesn't want to he can surely rest in what will be his new room in our home." Moira stated but Sara shook her head, "It's okay, we all need to open up again, we are no longer on the island. We know that everyone will love Ken and we want him to know that he is no longer alone, he has family."

"Mom, Mr. Lance, we aren't the same kids that you lost all those years ago, we've grown and we hope you see that. We want to be better than what we were because we know we were never the good son or daughter that you deserved, and it might take some time for us to fully open up about what happened to us but we will try, j-just have some patience with us." Oliver finished with a tight smile. Both parents hugged their kids before leading them to the car that awaited outside.

As Oliver, had said Ken was with the driver storing two wooden suitcases in the trunk. At hearing footsteps approaching ken turned around and smiled at the approaching family. "Good morning Mr. Lance, Mrs. Queen, are we ready to go?" he asked. Moira smiled back and nodded. Ken went around and opened the door for them to get in and as they did they all offered him a quick thank you in return.

 **[On the way to Queen Mansion]**

"Oliver there is something I have to tell you before we arrive," Moira said as if afraid of continuing, "I want you to know that I never did anything to disrespect your father, and I believed him to be dead just like you, but I remarried 3 years ago, to a man named Walter Steele." She said with a fearful tone not wanting to look up and see the pain in her son. However, to her surprise Oliver put his hand on top of hers, causing her to look at him and notice his understanding look. "It's okay mom, I can see you're happy and that's all that matters." He finished as his mother started to tear-up at the maturity her son was showing so different from the boy she had lost. She smiled and gave his hand a squeeze, "Thank you," was all that she could say.

Car pulls up to the house. They get out and the trunk opens and the driver reaches for the wooden suitcases but Ken stops him

"I've got it." He smiles to the driver who just nods in response.

"Wow, it's just as gorgeous as I remember, maybe even a little bigger." Sara said. Both Moira and Quinten just smiled as Thea wakes up to see what her mother was looking at. "Wow, Mommy Daddy, it's sooo big!" Moira chuckled and looked at her granddaughter, "This is your house now darling, so be sure to ask your auntie Thea for the grand tour, okay?" Thea looked over at her grandmother with a smile that showed her dimples, "I get to meet auntie Thea?!"

Quinten laughed as he looked at the wide smile of his granddaughter and spoke for Moira who was still smiling at Thea, "Yes sweetie you get to meet all your family, your aunt Thea and Laurel, as well as your grandpa Walter and for some unknown reason your uncle Tommy." He said with clear distaste as he mentioned Tommy. "Dad, please be civil with tommy, He's like a brother to Ollie and he deserves the right to meet our little bird." Sara said as she let Thea down so she could walk around and explore.

"Fine." Quinten mumbled "Doesn't mean I have to like the playboy billionaire."

"Dad, you do know you just described the father of my child, right?" Sara told Quinten as he looked to Oliver and said "No offense Oliver, and besides once you two started dating he started change." Oliver laughed as they made their way to the door. "Wow, I heard stories but I didn't think you'd really been like that Oliver." Ken said.

"Yeah, I wasn't the best me during that time, but then I met the woman that changed my life. She saw me for me and not the playboy that the rest of the world saw. Not surprisingly I fell in love with her and it just made me want to be a better man. It was a slow process to say the least but I left the drinking and parties behind." Oliver finishes as Sara hugs him and kisses him parting long enough to say, "I love you too, Ollie."

"Yeah, and good thing too because I really didn't want my daughter dating you but, I saw the subtle changes in you. My daughter was happy and you were slowly becoming a man I could see her with." Quinten said as he cleared his throat a little and proceeded, "I'll deny ever having said that." Everyone else laughed as he proceeded to open the door and allowing everyone to enter.

"Uncle Ken look how big the house is," Thea said as she ran indoors to everyone's amusement, "look at all the pretty pictures!" Ken grabbed Thea and placed her on his shoulder so she could get a better view of all the painting in the entrance hall. Sara looked on as her daughter smiled and laughed alongside Ken trying to get him to jump like a frog.

Sara laughed as Ken began to jump making Thea squeal with joy. At the sound, everyone turned around to see and they joined in on the laughter. "Well, I see what you mean that he sees her as his own now, he spoils her doesn't he?" Moira said looking at the well-built man treating her granddaughter with such care. Quinten also looking at the man jumping up and down not caring how funny he looked just to make the child laugh said, "Yeah, I see it too."

"Yeap, and believe us when we say that he will do anything she says just to see her smile." Sara said smiling. They looked on in silence as Ken continued to hop around until Raisa, an elderly Russian maid that was like a second mother to Oliver, walked into the hall.

She smiled at the sight, "Mr. Oliver it's good to see you home again and you too Ms. Sara, and I hear you also brought back a surprise with you?" She said grinning at the pair who smiled back at her and speaking at the same time said, "It's good to be home."

"Now, it's time for brunch, everyone is waiting in the dining room Mrs. Queen." Raisa said as she turned around to lead them to the dining room.

As they enter the dining room they see familiar faces of their friends and family, Thea, Tommy, Laurel and a man seated at the head of the table that Oliver and Sara guess is Walter Steele. The conversation they were having stops abruptly as they see them enter and they all race towards them with Thea leading the charge as she tackles both castaways with a hug. Everyone is hugging and smiling as the family celebrates the return of both of them.

"Oliver, Sara. It's damn good to see you. I'm Walter… Walter Steele." He introduces himself as he shakes their hands. "It's good to put a face to the name of the man that makes my mother happy." Oliver replied with a genuine smile. Everyone seemed to let out a breath no one knew they were holding in.

"Hey, sis." Oliver said as he looked over at Thea, "I knew it. I knew you were alive. I missed you so much." She says as she hugs her brother tightly. "You were with us the whole time." Oliver replied to his sister, as Sara hugs her.

"Hey Laurel, it's nice to see you again." Oliver says as they hug again. "You were with us the whole time as well, Sis." Sara adds. "Well, I'm just glad that the two of you are back and safe with us all." Laurel said as she fought back tears.

"What did I tell you both, Yachts Suck!" Tommy said as he got a good look at his friends. "Tommy Merlyn." They both say as they hug, "it's good to see you too, buddy." Oliver says as they break away from the hug.

"Well, I'm sure you two are starving so what do you say about sitting down and getting this brunch on the way?" Walter said to the group who all nodded with the exception of Moira and Quinten who knew what the couple was getting ready to say.

"Actually, Walter before we do that we have news that we didn't really know how to say so we asked my mom and Mr. Lance to not say anything until we knew how to say it." Oliver began as the rest of the group looked at him with quizzical looks on their faces trying to ascertain what the news might be.

"Oh, My God you guys decided to get married on the island!" Thea exclaimed looking at the couple who quickly replied before things got out of hand. "Umm, no that's not the news we have to share." Sara said as she looked at Oliver who continued, "You guys have been watching the news, right? (they all nod) Well as they have publicized there was another man with us at the island, he helped us survive and thanks to him we were able to make it home back to you guys. To me and Sara he became like family, a brother to us both." Everyone looked at them expecting them to continue and as seconds of silence passed Sara was the next to speak. "When we left the island, we told him to come back with us and he agreed so, what we are asking you is to treat him like family because if it wasn't for him, God knows what would've happened to us."

Everyone took in the information and they all smiled, "If he brought you guys back to us then he is already family in my eyes." Laurel said openly. "Does this mean I have two brothers now?" Thea asked Oliver as he nodded with a grin on his face. "Well, let's meet the man that made it possible for me to get my best friend back!" Tommy exclaimed.

"Hey, Ken! Can you come in here, it's time to meet the rest of our family?" Oliver raised his voice just enough so that Ken could hear him. Sara looked back at the group and said "There's another thing we need to tell you guys but I think seeing is believing in this case. Dad and Mrs. Queen know already and I think they're happy but I'm not entirely sure." She looked over at the two parents standing next to them who gave her huge smiles before Moira spoke for both of them, "We aren't just happy, we're beyond thrilled. It's one of the only good things that came out of the ordeal you guys went through." Quinten nodded in response to what Moira had said.

Before anyone could say anything else their attention was grabbed by the laughter of a young child entering the room on top of a man that was hopping around making her laugh. Once they entered the room the man grabbed the little girl and placed her down on the floor as he stood to give the others a good look at him.

Wow. Was all that came into Laurels head as she saw this man slightly shorter then Oliver, with long jet black hair covering his face, trimmed beard similar to Oliver's, but looked twice the size physically and even though he was wearing baggy clothes you could see the muscles underneath. Once he was standing up straight she noticed his eye's, his right was a vibrant blue almost unearthly while his left eye was gray that bordered on white. Laurel felt safe and intimidated at the same time just looking at him and she wasn't the only one, Thea had a similar reaction however tommy, felt a pang of jealousy as he saw the look on Laurels face. Moments passed and it seemed that the presence of the man took their minds off of the small child that had run into the hands of Oliver.

As he picked her up, she looked around at the new four people she hadn't met yet. She pointed at them and asked, "Daddy, who are they?" "They little bird are your uncles, aunts and new grandpa. Wave hi to them sweetie." Sara answered for Oliver. At this everyone looked over at the couple with eyes open wide not being able to say a thing.

Sara continued, "Everyone, we would like you to meet our daughter, Thea Dinah Queen." The little girl looked at them and waved, "Hi, everyone!" with a smile that seemed too big to fit on her little face.

After what seemed like a very long time Thea was the first to get over the shock and looked up at the happy family, "You named her after me?" trying to suppress her emotions. "We did say that both you and Laurel were with us the whole time." Oliver replied as he kissed his daughter on the cheek. Thea raced over closely followed by Laurel who was still slightly in shock from the fact that she had a niece.

"Oh, my god, she looks just like a little Sara with Ollies eyes!" Thea screamed. Ken chuckled next to Oliver and looked at his brother, "Told you she looks more like Sara than you!" Oliver gave him a look before he replied, "She's my daughter can't I dream she looks a little like me?" This time Laurel gave him a look, as she was hugging her niece, "No offence Ollie but Sara has a better feminine figure, unless there's something you'd like us to know?" Oliver just looked at her as everyone started to laugh the shock from the revelation forgotten.

"Hey, that's the father of my little bird, it's okay if he has a secrete or two." Sara said as she gave Oliver a devilish grin. This caused everyone to laugh harder as Oliver gave her a tight smile, "Well, thanks sweetie for your support."

"You're welcome!" she chimed as she gave him a peck on the lips.

"So now that there are two Theas, how will we know who you are talking to?" Tommy asked trying to figure it out.

"Well we can call her by the nickname Ken gave her." Sara stated as everyone looked up from the little girl who was now in Walter's arms, and looked at Ken. To their surprise, he looked dumbfounded, and embarrassed until Oliver put a hand on his shoulder in silent support.

"When she was smaller and even now she loved to be up high on someone's shoulders or just sitting on a hill looking down. To me she looked like a baby bird and so I started calling her Tayr, which roughly translates to nestling or baby bird." Ken said.

Everyone looked at him and then back at the little girl who had looked up at Ken at the sound of her nickname. Her smile was pure and innocent and in that moment, they silently decided to call her Tayr. "Hey there Tayr, how do you like your new aunties and uncle?" Thea asked her niece who turned to her and nodded.

"Mommy and Daddy told me about everyone and I'm happy to meet you!" Tayr said as everyone looked at her with loving eyes. She then turned to her mother, "Mommy, I'm hungry." She didn't wine like a normal toddler but instead said it as a statement, as if letting her parents know what time it was.

"Well now, it seems it's time to eat wouldn't you agree Tayr?" Walter asked his new grandchild who just beamed at him and nodded in response. They all walked to their chairs smiling and talking to Tayr about what she wanted to try first.

 **[A little bit later]**

"Ok. What else did you guys miss? Super bowl winners… Giants, Steelers, Saints, Packers, Giants again. A black president, that's new. Oh, and " _Lost_ ," they were all dead…I think." Tommy told them as everyone rolled their eyes at him with slight laughter.

"What was it like there?" Thea suddenly asks, everyone tenses except for Tayr, who had fallen asleep in her grandad Quinten's arms.

"Cold." Was the response that Sara, Oliver and Ken said mutually. The tone in their voices let them know that they weren't ready to talk to them about the Island just yet.

"Tomorrow, you, me and Ken, we're doing the city. You guys have got a lot to catch up on." Tommy told Oliver with a grin on his face.

"That sounds like a great idea." Moira added in. As Laurel looked at Sara, "Well then, I guess tomorrow we can have a girl's day out," she looked at Thea and Moira, "Unless tomorrow is bad for you?"

"No that sounds wonderful, that way we can get whatever Sara and Tayr need to make them more comfortable here." Moira looked at the rest of the women who smiled. "Besides I think we have a couple of missed birthdays that we need to make up to Tayr, don't we?"

"That sounds great mom just don't go overboard, that goes for you as well Speedy (turning to look at his sister who frowned at him). She's already a little spoiled as it is." He said as he turned to look at Ken. He stared back and replied, "What? I don't spoil her that much." He said as he looked at the sleeping Tayr.

"You built her toys from things you found in the forest." Sara stated.

"What every child should have a toy or two to play with!" Ken replied as he grinned at the young couple.

"Well, I know I've said this already Ken but I'll say it again. Thank you for watching over them and going the extra mile for my granddaughter." Moira stated as everyone in the room nodded making Ken blush slightly.

"It was my pleasure." Was all that he said on the matter.

 _Raisa comes to set a bowl of pears on the table for everyone to enjoy. She trips but Oliver catches her and restores her balance_ _._

"Oh, I am so sorry, Mr. Oliver." Raisa says hurriedly.

Oliver slips up and replies in Russian, "It's no worry." Everyone looks at him stunned, except for Ken and Sara.

"Dude, you speak Russian?" Tommy says once the initial shock is done.

"I didn't realize you took Russian at college, Oliver." Walter chimes in.

"Oh, I didn't. I learned a little bit from Ken." He gave Ken a quick glance. Quickly catching it Ken looks at tommy and Walter and smiles, "I speak 5 languages and can get by on 3 more." He says.

Everyone looks at him impressed by this revelation. "Is English your native language?" Moira asked interested in Ken's background.

"Uh, no my native language is Tarasco, a pre-Spanish tongue spoken in Mexico, However, I was raised in a small place in Asia, picking up the local languages there. Some of the locals spoke Russian so I learned how to speak it and while I was stuck on the Island with Sara and Oliver I taught them as a way to pass the time." Everyone looked at him impressed by what little information he gave out and accepted it without further questions.

Oliver gets up followed by Sara who walks over to Tayr and picks her up from her dad. "May we be excused? We're a little tired and as you can see Tayr is already resting." Moira Nods and the trio leaves as the others begin to plan what will be going on the next day.

"Hey, don't forget about tomorrow, all of you. Get some rest today because you'll be busy tomorrow." Tommy tells them as they leave the room and approach Oliver's room on the second floor.

 **[Queen Mansion – Oliver's Bedroom]**

 _After 5 years, everything that was once familiar is now unrecognizable. The faces we see in the mirrors are strangers to us._

 _Oliver looks at himself and at his scars. Sara wraps her arms around his waist from behind and kisses him on the shoulder. As they look at their reflections they see their other selves, Oliver sees his Arrow persona as Sara sees her Canary persona as thunder strikes outside their open window._

 _[_ ** _Flashback_** _]_

 _Queen's Gambit – 5 Years Ago, Robert Queen stares at the ship radar whilst a man emerges from outside soaking wet._

" _The storm's a category 2. The captain's recommending, we head back." Says a crew member_

" _All right. Inform the crew." Robert tells the crew member who heads off._

" _Are we in trouble?" Oliver asks as he and Sara come to meet with the older Queen._

" _No, It's just a bit of rough waves and rain. There shouldn't be any reason to be alarmed" Robert assured the younger couple._

 **[Oliver's Bedroom]** __

Ken looks at the couple staring at their reflection and then turns to Tayr sleeping on the bed. "You guys should get some rest, enjoy the time with Tayr." Ken tells them.

"How about you? Do you want me to show to you your room?" Oliver asked him. Ken shook his head, "No I need to go make sure that everything is ready and see where the other six are in their travels." Ken told them kindly.

Before Sara could say something, Ken raised his hand to silence her, "You guys are parents, your family is here, once we get started you might not get any decent time alone. Take advantage of it." Oliver and Sara looked at him but they knew that once his choice was made he was even more stubborn than both of them and that's saying something. They nodded in understanding, "Good now I'll be on my way, I'll be back as fast as I can. Should be before dinner. Now sleep and protect Tayr, like she protects you from your dreams."

With that Ken walked towards the window and feeling the rain he looked back once more to see Oliver and Sara resting next to Tayr. He smiled at the family before jumping out into the storm outside and vanishing into the darkness.

 _ **[Base of operations- Old Abandoned Steel Factory]**_

Ken arrives at the factory owned by Oliver's family. Taking in the new surroundings he moves within the shadows past all the homeless people moving about around the neighboring buildings, making sure he isn't noticed. Once inside he looks around and finally sees that this is indeed a great building to have their base in.

"You can come out Sarab, no need to hide. I know you're there." Ken looks up towards the rafters. From their shadows a figure drops and kneels in front of Ken.

"Alddam Mastir, Ra's has tasked me with guarding you and when she arrives Nyssa." Sarab looks at Ken while still kneeled.

Ken motions for Sarab to rise. "How did Nyssa manage to convince Ra's to allow her to be involved in this mission Sarab?"

"It was my understanding he had forbade her from following me." Ken said as the pair walked to the lower level.

"I am not sure but you know how Nyssa is, she would have followed you regardless of her father's orders, after all she is your beloved." Sarab responded.

"My wife can be a handful, I'll have to ask her what she promised her father for allowing her to follow me." Ken said as he turned on the generator and powered up the base. In the opposite side of the room the computers and rest of the equipment that the league had brought for them flashed into life. Off to the right arrows were placed showcasing the style from normal to a specialized arrow with an explosive tip. Next to them bow staffs of different materials were standing, all in different lengths. At the far corner racks of blades, axes, swords and projectiles stood, like a museum of ancient weaponry.

On the left side of the room various exercise equipment was placed, a salmon ladder in the far corner followed by grappling mats, and a wing chun dummy. Ken took in the room and approved of the setup.

"Excellent Sarab, now what's the status on the rest?" Ken asked as he walked over to the salmon ladder and beginning to workout wanting to get his body moving.

"Nyssa of course is on her way here, unfortunately we do not know what method she chose to arrive in. Alttawtum is currently on her way here from Europe, she has taken a plane under her alias so, she should arrive tomorrow. Sufi has finished her previous mission in Gotham and will arrive within the hour per her latest report." Sarab finished as Ken finished his last climb. Jumping down from the ladder he looked at back at Sarab, "I was informed that there would be 4 members joining me on this mission. Has there been a change of plan since Nyssa?"

"No, you still have 4 members, including myself." Sarab stated.

"I see, I wonder why Ra's would send two horsemen and his daughter on the same mission?" Ken contemplated.

"He has sent me to run the league missions from here and assist you and Nyssa in any way I can. That way you can help Oliver and Sara cleanse this city." Sarab informed him. Ken simply nodded.

"Well I'm satisfied with the progress Sarab, once Alttawtum and Sufi arrive you can continue to run league business and I will only call upon you if it is necessary or unless you want to see them. Now, I must get going I have to be back before dinner." Ken states as he makes his way back to the second level.

 _ **[Queen Mansion- Oliver's Bedroom]**_

 _Oliver is restless and stirs in his sleep, covered in sweat. Remembering back to that night with the lightning._

 _ **[Flashback 5 years ago,]**_

 _Sara and Oliver sitting in his room getting ready to toast to their next step forward. When suddenly there's a loud eruption of lightning and the champagne tilts over and suddenly the cabin flips and they're thrown to_ _opposite sides of the room. Sarah screams while_ _Oliver regains his balance long enough to make his way to Sarah only to be engulfed by the ocean._

" _Sarah? Sarah!" Oliver screams trying to find her after being pulled apart by the ocean._

" _Sarah!" he franticly screams trying to find the woman he loves._

" _Ollie!" Sara screams from the life boat that had found her moments earlier with a crew member and Robert Queen._

" _Sarah!" he yells as he swims towards the life boat._

 _Once the crew member and Robert get Oliver into the boat, he rushes passed them and into the arms of Sara, hugging her tighter than ever. They both look to where the yacht is just quick enough to see it be engulfed by the ocean._

[ **Present Day** ]

 _Moira having heard Oliver's yell rushes towards the room. She bursts into the room to find him on the floor shivering and mumbling. As she reaches to wake him someone holds her arm so she doesn't touch him. She looks up to find ken standing there with a finger on his lips signaling her to keep quiet._

As she moves back she hears the shuffling of little feet, moving towards her father. Trying to stop her Moira reaches for her but ken again stops her. She looks at him with rage forming in her eyes but he simply looks at her with a look that says trust us.

Tayr, reaches her father and begins to shake him trying to wake him, "Daddy? Wake up, Daddy?" Having little success, she touches his face with her little hands causing Oliver to relax, "Your safe daddy, you're with mommy and me. We're home, it's safe, wake up."

Oliver opens his eyes to see his daughter staring down at him, with concern written on her little face. He puts a hand on her cheek and she smiles, "Did I scare you Tayr? I'm sorry." Oliver tells her with a soft voice.

"No, it's okay daddy, you just had a bad dream." She hugs her father tightly and he holds her tight as he looks up to his mother and the rest of the family with an apologetic smile.

Ken turns to them and asks them to follow him outside to leave them alone for a moment.

Once outside the room he turns to them, "I'm sorry for stopping you Mrs. Queen but it is unwise to try and wake him or Sara up when they are like that. Their reflex and instinct are at the forefront and will attack whoever wakes them." He looks at them and sees that they are all filled with pained looks and shock.

Moira recovers first and looks at Ken with a stern look, "Then why did you let Tayr, get close to him if you knew the risks!" Ken looks at her with an apologetic smile "Tayr is the only one that can safely wake them up from their nightmares. She can sense them and wakes them up before they are swallowed by them. It is unfortunate but she calms them. It's the reason she still sleeps with them otherwise they wouldn't sleep." He sees the stunned faces of the family as he reveals this bit of information, they are beginning to understand just what they all experienced.

"Tayr is stronger than any normal child and if we try to keep her away from her parents when they are having a nightmare she will fight till she is back next to them, believe me I tried once." Tears fall from most of their eye's as they realize that this little girl has had to grow up more than she should have just like her parents did. Quinten looks at Ken before wiping away some tears from his eyes, "This is why you spoil her to no end, the reason both Oliver and my baby say that you will do anything to protect her." Ken nods in response.

"She is strong but she still needs to live the life of a child and I will do anything to make sure she doesn't worry about anything else." Just as ken finished speaking, Sara walked out to talk to them.

"I'm sorry for what you saw in there, Tayr had to use the restroom so I took her to the bathroom and it looks like that was long enough for Ollie to start dreaming." Sara explained to her family. "We try to sleep together because it calms all of us, just the fact that we have her in our arms is enough for us to fight those nightmares." And not one second after she was rushed with hugs from Thea, Laurel, Quinten and Moira.

"Oh, it's ok, baby girl. It's all right, sweetheart. You're home and safe with us. You're home and no matter what we will be there for you guys." Quinten stated as he kissed his daughter on the cheek.

"Thanks daddy, it's been a rough day so, I think we're just going to sleep," she looked to Ken before continuing, "Are you going to stay with us or in your room?" He looked at her and smiled, "I will watch over Tayr, making sure she sleeps so you don't have to worry." She gives him a thankful smile and mouths a small thank you.

"Well in that case we will live you guys to rest and sleep, we will see you guys in the morning." Moira stated with a sad smile as everyone nodded in agreement. Having said their goodnights, Ken returns to Oliver's room to see that Tayr is asleep in the middle of her parents holding on to her daddy's shirt. He smiles as he takes seat next to the window and dozes off in sleep.

 **[Next morning Oliver's room]**

Tayr wakes up next to her parents and smiles at their sleeping faces. She looks around and smiles as she sees ken asleep in a meditative pose. She gets up and tries to get passed him when he opens up his gray colored eye and smiles before speaking.

"And where are you off to so soon Tayr?" She stops in her tracks and looks at Ken with dejected smile. She glares at him, "I'll sneak past you one day Uncle Ken!" He chuckles which causes her to laugh which in turn wakes her parents up.

"Tayr, are you causing trouble so early in the morning?" Sara asks her daughter sleepily.

"I don't cause trouble mommy!" She said with a pout as she turned to face her parents.

"No, you don't your daddy's little angel aren't you sweetie?" Oliver asked her daughter as she raced towards him and hugged him tightly. He kisses her on the forehead and looks to Sara, "Well, I think that it's time to start getting ready for another long day sweetie, go with your mother and take a shower, ok?"

"Yes, daddy!" She runs off into the bathroom waiting for her mommy to catch up. Sara smiles and looks at Oliver, "She is such a daddy's girl." He looks at her, "Just like her mother, no?" Sara rolls her eyes at him and follows after Tayr.

Ken smiles and turns to Oliver, "She's not the only one that has a long day ahead of them. You should get ready as well." He gets up and leaves to his room for a shower and change of clothes.

 **[Thea's Bedroom]**

"Where did you get these?" Thea asks her friend as she crushes pills into powder on Thea's desk.

"Roxies. Thank you, daddy's ACL tear." The girl replies to Thea's question. Thea looks at her friend and then remembers her niece. She thinks for a while and turns to her friend "I'm not sure I should continue this, I have a niece now. I want to be a good role model for her."

Before her friend can reply there's a knock on the door and the two girls hide the pills and powder under a folder. Oliver walks in and notices the movement.

"Ollie." Thea says as she turns to face her brother.

"No one's called me that in a while, Speedy." He replies back.

"Worst nickname ever." She responds rolling her eyes.

"What, always chasing after me as a kid? I thought it fit pretty well. Maybe it still does." he tells her with a tight smile as her friend walks by them and to the door before saying, "See you at school, Speedy." And walks out the door.

"Sorry about her." Thea says.

"I have something for you." He replies making Thea wonder what he could have brought back with him from a deserted island.

"You did not come back from a deserted island with a souvenir." She retorts.

Oliver smiles before speaking, "It's a Hozen and in Buddhism, it symbolizes reconnecting. I kept it in hopes that one day, it would reconnect me with you." He hands it to Thea who smiles as she looks it over.

"A rock! That is sweet. You know, I want one of those t-shirts that says 'My friend was a castaway, and all I got was this crappy shirt.'" Tommy chuckles from the doorway.

"Don't let him get you guys into too much trouble. You just got back and Ken is new to the city. Take it slow." Oliver Kisses her on the cheek as he turns to leave her room.

"Don't forget Mom and the girls will pick you up for lunch so that you can go shopping with them and, I meant what I said Speedy, don't spoil my daughter." He smiles as he walks out into the hall.

"Ahem. The city awaits. Have you noticed how hot your sister's gotten? [Oliver gives him a stern look] Because I have not." Tommy winces at the glare from his best friend.

 **[Outside the Mansion]**

Ken is waiting outside for Oliver and Tommy, resting on Oliver's Ducati, he will be driving since Tommy's Mercedes isn't built for more than two people.

"Hey there Ken, ready to hit the city and see what we have to offer?" Tommy says as he shakes Ken's hand.

"Well we'll go ahead and you can follow us taking in the cites, I'll call you inside the car alright, Ken?" Oliver speaks to ken who nods in agreement.

 _ **[Inside Tommy's Mercedes SLR**_ **]**

Oliver takes out his phone and dials his phone to connect with Ken. "Alright I answered now what?" Ken says into his Bluetooth earpiece.

"Now we can all talk, Ken, didn't think I'd let you get out of it, did you?" Ken grumbles into the phone and just says, "fine."

 **[Moments Later]**

"Your funeral blew." Tommy says.

"Did you get lucky?" Oliver asks him trying to sound like his old self for a moment.

"Fish in a barrel. They were so sad…" Tommy says with a smirk.

"No." Oliver replies "And huggy." Tommy continues.

"This is a conversation I did not want to hear, Oliver. I guess Sara wasn't making up stories about you before you guys started dating." Ken speaks for the first time, with a light smile on his face.

"And I am counting on another target rich environment for your guy's welcome home bash." Tommy says in response to Ken.

"At our what?" Both Ken and Oliver reply, a look of confusion on Oliver's face.

"You guys came back from the dead. This calls for a party. You tell me where and when. I'll take care of everything. And this city's gone to crap. Your dad sold his factory just in time. And why'd you want to drive through this neighborhood anyway?" Tommy talks as _Oliver looks at his father's old factory, where his new base of operations will be running from. As he looks at it someone catches his attention, a woman in a red jacket with a hood over her head covering her eyes, in black clothing standing near the factory. She glances in their direction and grins._

"No reason." Oliver replies, "What do you think of that building Ken, was I right that it was worth taking a look at?" Ken recognizes the code and turns to face the building, and upon seeing what Oliver was referring to he can't help but smile. "Yeah it does seem like a good spot but we'll have to check the foundation and make sure everything is up to code." He replies back.

Tommy being confused asks, "What are you guys talking about?" Oliver laughs and says, "It's a surprise, I have to make sure everything is ready before I reveal my plans." Tommy accepts the reply and continues to drive.

"So, what'd you guy's miss the most, steaks at the palm, drinks at the station, or in your case Ken, meaningless sex?" Oliver laughs as his best friend finishes.

"I named my daughter after my sister so, for me it was Thea." Oliver replies first Ken speaks right after, "You do realize I'm married, right?" Ken says as Tommy gives a sign of relief that Oliver catches.

"Wait if you're married then why did you come back to Starling instead of heading back home?" Tommy asks.

"I called her as soon as I could and after catching up and hearing her voice we spoke about what we wanted to do. She didn't want me to leave Oliver and Sara alone and since back home we don't really have any family besides her father who is always busy with business around the globe she decided to come to starling with me. To her wherever we are together is home and that's why I love her." Oliver recognized the message hidden within Ken's reply, Ra's had approved of Nyssa's involvement in the mission since he knew she would follow her beloved regardless of his orders.

 **[Meanwhile in a store somewhere in Starling]**

"Laurel, how are things at CNRI?" Moira asked the eldest Lance sister while they were looking for clothes for Tayr. "I've been working on the Hunt case and they filed a change of venue. We are now in front of Judge Grell so life has been busy." She replied as she picked out a black tank top like the one her mother would wear to sleep when she was younger.

"You went to law school. You said you would." Sara says as she and Tayr make their way back to the group after helping Tayr try on some outfits. "Yeah. Everyone's proud, and I really wanted you to see me graduate but now at least you can see me do what I do best." Laurel replied as she handed the top to her sister who smiled as she also remembered the top she used to wear.

"Adam Hunt's a heavy hitter. You sure you want to get in the ring with him?" Moira asked as she was looking at some sweaters for her grandchild.

"No. Not really but the victims of his actions deserve some justice and I'll do anything to help them." Laurel replied as they walked towards the cash register.

 **[** _ **Alleyway. Tommy, Oliver and Ken walk back to where they parked the car and bike after a late lunch]**_

"Ok, so we took care of that. Good call. Now we can make up for lost time. If you're not too sick of driving around just yet we can go look at some gifts for Tayr, what do you guys say?" A van approaches them from behind, "What're they doing?" asks Tommy as they are ambushed by armed men, "What the hell?" Tommy cries as he falls down unconscious.

Innocent Bystander sees what's happening and tries to help, "Hey!" The last thing both Ken and Oliver see as they are falling down is one of their attackers turning around and killing the innocent man.

 _[_ ** _Flashback]_**

 _Lifeboat. Gus sets up a fluorescent light above the boat. Robert gives Oliver and Sara a bottle of water to drink._

" _Here, Drink." Robert tells his son and girlfriend. "What the hell are you doing?! That's all we've got." Cries Gus, the only crewmember to survive the storm alongside them._

" _If anybody's making it out of here, it's going to be them. I'm so sorry. I thought I'd have more time. I'm not the man you think I am. I didn't build our city. I failed it. And I wasn't the only one." Robert tells his son who is groggy from days spent on the life boat._

 **[** **Present** **Day** **] –** _ **Desolate**_ **warehouse**

"Mr. Queen. (The bag that was covering his face is yanked off) Mr. Queen! Did your father survive that accident? I ask the questions. You give me the answers. (He activates the taser and puts it up to Oliver's chest who grits his teeth) Did he make it to the island? Did he tell you anything? (He gets tased again and again he grits his teeth not wanting to scream)" One of the masked men asks him.

"Yes, he did." Oliver says through gritted teeth.

"What did he tell you, Mr. Queen?" Oliver take a look around the warehouse and sees Tommy unconscious on the floor, he continues to look around and spots Ken in a share in a similar position as Oliver. He catches a slight nod coming from him.

"He told me we're going kill you." Oliver replies darkly. The kidnappers laugh "You're delusional. You guys are zip-cuffed to those chairs."

Both Oliver and Ken show their hands, "Not anymore." They reply as they spring into action. He first kidnapper, the one interrogating, attacks Oliver who dodges the attack and using the chair as a shield blocks the punch meant for him, turning around and swinging the chair into the next kidnapper that had come for him in the throat. Using the momentum from both hits he breaks one of the legs off the chair and uses it as a steak burying it into the heart of one kidnapper.

Meanwhile Ken, using precise strikes to the torso and legs of the kidnapper making him fall forward however before the kidnapper hits the floor, Ken turns around crouches and then brings his left hand open palm up colliding with the kidnapper's chin, the force between the hit and the man's weight breaks his neck. The third kidnapper having regained his breathe from being hit in the throat, realizes he is outmatched and runs away from the two supposed victims.

Oliver shares a look with Ken, who sprints into action as Oliver lost the silent argument. Ken runs through the rooftops keeping up with the kidnapper as he turns around to shoot at him. However, Ken is ahead of the bullets and using his free running skills easily comes up in front of a surprised kidnapper who tries to aim and fire. He doesn't get to pull the trigger before Ken strikes the man's solar plexus, giving Ken enough time to grab the man's head in a sleeper hold.

"You killed that man." He says to no one in particular.

"You don't have to do this." He pleads with Ken who has on an unreadable mask.

"Yes, I do. Nobody can know our secret." Ken states simple before applying force and breaking the man's neck, killing him.

 **[Queen Mansion] – Living Room**

"So, that's your story. A guy in a green hood flew in and single-handedly took out 3 armed kidnappers. I mean, who is he? Why would he do that?" Detective Hilton asked the three men sitting there.

"I don't know. Find him and you can ask." Was Ken's reply to Hiltons questions.

"Yeah. What about you? You see the hood guy?" Hilton shows Tommy the sketch.

"I didn't see anything, I was kind of out of it. When I opened up my eye's everything was blurry." Replied Tommy to a very annoyed Hilton.

"Well, if you guys remember anything else please come tell us, alright Oliver, ken?" Quinten told the two men completely ignoring Tommy, who looked upset at him.

"Were you able to identify the men?" Walter asked both detectives.

"Scrubbed identities, untraceable weapons. These were pros." Quinten told Walter before his partner could say something else.

"Yeah. Well, they probably figured you'd pay a king's ransom to get your boy back or a Queen's ransom, as it were." Hilton replied.

"I don't find your tone appropriate, Detective." Walter told Hilton.

"Like I said partner, if Oliver can think of anything else, he'll be in touch. Thank you, for your cooperation, Ken, Oliver." As he shakes their hands giving them both a nod.

Hilton scoffs and walks away. As he is about to walk out the room the women come rushing in, to see if the three are okay. Sara rushes to Oliver and kisses him just as Tayr runs into Ken's arms and hugs him. Oliver looks at her, "Hey! How come daddy didn't get a hug first princess?" She looks at him and her mommy before speaking, "Because you have mommy and Uncle ken is alone." Everyone chuckles at the way Tayr is so caring momentarily forgetting about the kidnapping.

 **[Outside the Mansion later that night]**

Oliver and Sara walk out of the mansion hand in hand with an energetic Tayr in tow behind them and a silent Ken in the rear. Moira stops them, "Oliver, Sara, I want to introduce you to someone… John Diggle. He'll be accompanying your family from now on. As for you Ken, I am looking into another bodyguard just for you."

"We don't need a babysitter mom." Oliver tells her through a forced smile.

"I don't need a bodyguard either Mrs. Queen, I thank you but when my beloved arrives she will have someone with her that she trusts for us." Ken explains to Moira who nods, "Well I hope you don't disagree with her if she decides you need extra security, it's not wise to argue with your wife." She gives him a smile when he nods in understanding.

"Oh, believe me. I learned that the hard way Mrs. Queen." Ken smiles amused at a memory of his beloved.

"Darling, Ken and Oliver are grown men. And if they don't feel the need for armed protection—" Walter starts before Moira cuts him off.

"Yeah, I understand, but this is something I need. Just humor me Oliver, I want to make sure my granddaughter is safe." She gives Oliver a sad smile before he nods his head in agreement.

 **[In the car minutes, later]**

Oliver, Sara and Tayr are in the back, having left ahead of Ken who decided to ride the bike instead.

"So…What do we call you?" Tayr asked the big man driving the car.

"Diggle's good. Dig if you want." The driver replied looking back and smiling at the little girl.

"You're ex-military?" Sara asks him with a bit of interest.

"Yes, mam. 105th airborne out of, Kandahar, retired. Been in the private sector a little more than 4 years now. I don't want there to be any confusion, Mr. Queen, Ms. Lance. My ability to keep you all from harm will outweigh your comfort. Do we have an agreement?" Diggle asked, but having not heard anything but silence he continues, "Sir? Mam?" The car doors open and close car's honk as Dig stops the car and looks back only to find that it's empty. He quickly exits the car and looks around but there is no one in sight, "Sir! Mam!" Dig yells to no avail, the small family is gone.

[Oliver walks through the slums. He and Sara separated to not draw unwanted attention. He reaches his father's old factory, he throws his bags over and scales the fence. He enters the abandoned factory meanwhile Sara and Tayr, dressed as bums walk through the buildings until they reach the factory where Oliver is waiting.]

 _The abduction was unexpected. It forced us to move up our plans, but what we told the police was true. The man in the green hood was there in that warehouse, and he's just beginning._

The family walks down to the sub-level where Ken is waiting for them. He smiles as he sees Tayr and lifts her up, "Are you ready to see our new base little one?" Tayr beams and nods her head, growing up knowing who her parents were as well as her Uncle Ken she learned to keep secrets. It helped that a way to bribe her was to allow her to see their base from time to time.

Ken opens the door and walks inside, followed by Sara and Oliver. Once inside Ken turns the generator on to reveal their base of operations. Tayr eyes widen and she struggles against Ken so she can run around and see all the equipment.

"Wow, the league went with the best of the best with this equipment." Sara says as she looks over the bow staffs and the weapons adorning the walls of the lair. "I made sure that my beloved got the best from Nanda Parbat." Came a voice from the dark area that the lights didn't illuminate. It was a highly sultry and proper voice with a hint of Russian accent.

"Aunt Nyssa!" Tayr Exclaimed running towards the source of the voice and disappearing into the darkness briefly before a figure lifted her up in a hug and carried her out into the light. "It's been a long time, Al Sah-Him, Ta-er al-Usfar." Nodding to the couple who smiled as their daughter kissed her cheek. She sat Tayr on one of the metal tables before turning to face her beloved, and in the blink of an eye she attacked him only to have her attack parried as Ken initiated one of his own, causing Nyssa to jump back to avoid his knee. Nyssa smiled and lunged herself at Ken aiming for his ribcage, Ken smiled seeing that she took the bait and quickly grabbed her wrists to control her trajectory before she could react, she hit the mat legs first and when she was down she felt Ken on top of her. Both were smiling at one another when Ken leaned down and kissed her and as a sign of defeat Nyssa wrapped her arms around her beloved's neck.

The other three smiled as they saw the encounter between the married couple before Oliver cleared his throat "There are children in the room, Nyssa, Ken." The couple on the floor stopped their encounter to look at Oliver and grin in amusement, "Sorry, but I've been away from my beloved for 6 long months awaiting your rescue." Nyssa replied as they got up.

"I've missed you too, darling. Now will you tell me how you got your father to agree to your involvement in this mission?" Ken asked Nyssa as he held her from behind. "Whatever do you mean husband?" She replied Innocently. "You only refer to me as husband when you're about to talk to me about something serious." He replied back.

She turned around to face him with a devilish grin, "I may have told him I would think about us giving him a grandchild." She said quickly as she started to walk away. Ken reached out and brought her back into her arms, "That's a price I don't mind paying at all," Ken said as he kissed her temple "Did you think I would disapprove of this?"

Nyssa rested her head on his shoulder before answering, "Well beloved we have never talked on the subject and I didn't know if it was because you didn't want to or if you were waiting for me to approach the matter." Nyssa replied honestly.

Ken put his hand on her exposed cheek and caressed her before lifting her head and giving her a gentle kiss filled with his true emotions. "The choice is yours, beloved. When you are ready we will give your father a grandchild, if not more." Ken told her truthfully which caused Nyssa to smile.

Their attention was pulled back to the lair, "Come forth, Sarab, Alttawtum, Sufi." Nyssa commanded. At the sound of their names the three assassins emerged from one of the secret passages that the league had installed for them. Tayr turned to see the three-new people that emerged from the darkness. She recognized Sarab and smiled when he approached them. They knelt in front of Nyssa and Ken and rose when the pair signaled them to.

"We came as soon as Alttawtum arrived. Their identities have been created for your purposes Alddam." Sarab addressed the Heir. Ken simply nodded and looked at the two female assassins, "Do you understand your primary mission above all else?" he asked them.

As the more experienced assassin of the two Alttawtum spoke, "Yes, my liege, we are to pose as the nannies and bodyguards for Thea Dinah Queen. We are to keep her from any harm and when needed impersonate the canary, to draw attention away from Ta-er al-Usfar."

"Indeed Alttawtum, from this point forward she is your mission. You will be Anna Stoll for the purpose of this mission, with a background in private security from one of Ra's shell companies. As for you Sufi, you are the youngest so you will adopt the roll of babysitter, your identity during this mission will be that of Vicky Vargas. Do you understand?"

"Yes, my liege." They replied in unison.

"Good, now take Tayr and get to know her. There's a hidden room that is set up just for her to use for when she is here." Ken pointed toward an empty corner. With a nod of their heads they went over to Tayr who looked at them with a curios smile.

As they left Sarab looked at Oliver and Sara nodded in their direction then spoke to Ken, "Everything is now complete for my part here, I shall now go back to our base and continue the day to day operations of the league here. If you excuse me." He bowed to both Nyssa and Ken as they dismissed him and he walked into the darkness once more.

Once he was gone the remaining four turned to face the TV as the anchor began,

T **V Anchorman** : The suit alleges that Hunt committed multiple acts of fraud and theft against the city's underprivileged. Laurel Lance, an attorney for the city necessary…

 _Adam Hunt…his crimes go deeper than fraud and theft, but he's been able to bully, bribe, or kill anyone who's gotten into his way. He hasn't met us yet. Oliver, Sara and Ken Grab their equipment and weapons._

 **[Parking Lot]**

Hunt his bodyguards and another man are walking in the low light

"You remind Grell I put him on the bench, I can take him off. I will turn him into a cautionary tale." Hunt told his companion.

"Yes, Mr. Hunt." The man replied.

"And this attorney Laurel Lance…you said she wasn't going be a problem anymore. I told you to fix that situation," They stop walking as Hunt turns to the man, "Why are you still here?" Hunt asks exasperated.

 _They resume walking to the car when the lights go out and the trio appear taking out the guards quickly._ An arrow is fired whooshing through the air hitting one of the guards in the heart and killing him instantly "Unh!" is all that escapes his mouth before he falls down.

"Get in the car!" Yells his other guard as he ushers hunt into the limo before turning around and firing at where he thinks the hood is firing from.

"Hey. You missed." The woman in black says behind the second bodyguard who tries to turn around but is welcomed by a double strike to the face, "Unh! Unh!", courtesy of the silver staff from the woman in black knocking the guard unconscious.

Hunt sits in his limo looking frightful before an arrow breaks the window, shattering the passenger window and lodges itself in the passenger seat next to him. Hunt turns around towards the arrow before something drags him out of the limo through the broken window, "Unh! What? What? Just… just tell me what you want." Hunt says with desperation in his voice as he looks up at the man in the hood in front of him and the woman in black at his side.

"You're going to transfer $40 million into Starling City bank account 1141 by 10 P.M. tomorrow night." The man in the hood says in a deeper voice than normal thanks to his voice modifier.

"Or what?" Hunt retorted trying to sound braver than he felt.

"Or we're going to take it, and you won't like how." Came the reply from above him. Hunt looked up to catch a glimpse of another man, standing on top of the car but unlike the other two he didn't wear leather but instead a loose-fitting pitch black robe, his face hidden by a black mask that as far as he could see covered his entire face including his eyes; the man in black did a flip over Hunt as he jumped off the car and joined his companions as they walked away.

As they were leaving Hunt got a surge of courage, "If I see you again, you're dead!" he yelled at the three vigilantes, causing the man in black to suddenly turn and throw a dagger at the back of the limo with enough force that left a hole in the back windshield of the limo. Hunt turns to see the hole with fear in his face and when he turns back to face the vigilantes they're gone.

 **[Later that night at the Queen mansion]**

Oliver, Sara, Ken and Nyssa walk in followed by Vicky carrying a sleeping Tayr and Anna covering the rear as a proper bodyguard.

"Oliver, why did you and Sara disappear with my granddaughter from Mr. Diggle's guard? What were you thinking? Specially from a moving car!" Moira said outraged but tried to keep her voice down as she saw Tayr sleeping in a stranger's arms.

"And who might these women be, exactly?" Moira added in finally seeing that there were three new women with them.

"Mom I'm sorry but we wanted to spend some time alone with our daughter showing her some of our favorite sites in the city," Oliver said in defense as Ken stepped in before Moira could argue, "Mrs. Queen I'd like you to meet my wife, Nyssa." He said introducing the woman that was to his right.

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance Mrs. Queen, my husband has had nothing but good things to say about you." Nyssa said as she shook her hand.

"Well the pleasure is all mine." Replied Moira with a pleasant smile.

"Oh, and they are Vicky and Anna." Nyssa said as she pointed at the women. "Anna and Vicky both have proper training from my father's Company dealing in private security. I enlisted them as soon as Ken told me what happened with Oliver and himself. They are tasked to babysit and keep watch over Tayr so that nothing like that happens to her." Nyssa explained as Moira nodded her head in understanding, "I see well thank you for that, But I'd still feel better if you agreed to have Mr. Diggle keep an eye out for you and Sara for when you go out." She said as she looked at Oliver who simply nodded in return.

"Now Nyssa, did you hire protection for yourself and Ken? I would hate to have you both go through that." Moira said in a sympathetic tone at the married couple.

"No, there was no need to hire someone. My father insisted on sending one of his personal guards to watch over us. Mr. Yamashiro will be arriving tomorrow." Nyssa replied to Moira who in turn smiled and started ushering everyone inside.

 **[Hunt Multinational Next Day]**

"One was wearing a hood, a green hood, and he had a bow and arrow. The woman was in black, blond hair and wore a simple mask. The third one was wearing some kind of black robe and black mask that covered his entire face." The detectives looked at one another, this was the first time there was any mention of partners. "What, you don't believe me? That maniac put two of my men in the hospital." Hunt says as he hands the detectives the arrow that was on his desk with an irritated voice. Detective Lance takes the arrow and looks at his partner.

"Well, thanks for your statement. We'll put out an APB on…" He looks at the arrow then back at Hunt, "Robin Hood, and his band of merry man?" Hilton replies sarcastically.

Hunt walks towards him, "Hey, pal. I'm not some grocer who got taken for his register. I go to the front of the line. Now he said he would be back here by 10 P.M. Make sure you're here first. You can coordinate with Mr. Drakon, my new head of security."

"All right. Well, uh, thanks for your time." Replies Hilton as they head out of Hunt's office.

"It looks like Queen and Ken were telling the truth." Lance remarks.

"Yeah. Well, there's a first time for everything. These vigilantes come looking for trouble, hell they'll find it." Replies Hilton

 **[Outside the Queen Mansion]**

Oliver is leaves to go to his party. He opens the car door to find Diggle waiting for him inside, ready to accompany him to the party.

Oliver and company walk out of the mansion to head to the party tommy had planned for them. He reaches for the door to find Diggle waiting for them inside, "Put on your seat belt, sir's, mam's. Wouldn't want you to miss your party." They smile amused at the guard and get into the car.

 **[Welcome Home Party]**

They arrive at the party. As they descend the stairs Ken brings out his phone and checks his timer: 9.07PM (53 mins left for Adam Hunt to deliver). Tommy sees them and ushers them in.

Upon seeing them Tommy gestures to the DJ to stop the music and speaks to the crowd, "Everybody, hey! Men- and-woman-of-the-hour!" as the crowd cheers them on. "Whoo! Please give them a proper homecoming!"

We are the Champions is playing in the background as Oliver and Sara walk up to the stage. "Thank you very much, everybody!" Oliver starts as Tommy hands them a shot, "Ollie, Sara, Ollie, Sara, Ollie, Sara, Ollie."

"I missed Tequila!" Sara yells at the crowd as her and Oliver take the shot to the echoes of a cheering crowd.

 **[Hunt Multinational]**

9.25PM. Hunts' guards get ready and load their clips into their automatic weapons. Techno music is heard from outside.

"What the hell's going on out there?" Hunt asks his head of security. Who simply says, "It's across the street. Party for the group that got rescued off that island…Oliver Queen and such."

 **[Welcome Home Party]**

Tommy and Oliver are standing next to each other as Sara is off with laurel. "Hey. Does he wipe for you, too?" Tommy jokes as he points to Mr. Diggle causing Oliver to smile in amusement, until he sees Thea getting drugs from a strange man.

"Back in a minute." He shoots out before moving towards Thea. Diggle sees him move and follows him at a distance. Thea turns around to find Oliver next to her, "Ollie, hey! This party is sick."

"Who let you in here?" Oliver asks with a tight smile.

"I believe it was somebody who said, 'Right this way, Miss Queen.'" She shoots back cheekily.

"Well, you shouldn't be here." A little anger showing in his voice.

"Uh, I'm not 12 anymore." She retorts.

"No. You're 17." Anger softening to concern.

"Ollie, I-I love you, but you can't come back here and judge me, especially for being just like you." Her emotions finally coming out to light, giving Oliver a glimpse of the pain she went through.

"I know that it couldn't have been easy for you when I was—away." Oliver remarks trying to keep the memories of the island from surfacing.

"Away? No. You died. My brother and my father died. I went to your funerals." Tears forming in her eyes.

"I know." Was all that he could muster in response.

"No, you don't. Mom had Walter, and I had no one. You guys all act like it's cool, let's forget about the last 5 years. Well, I can't. For me, it's kind of permanently in there, so I'm sorry if I turned out some major disappointment, but this—me, is the best I could do with what I had to work with," She turns to her friends, "Lets bounce."

Oliver watches her leave with her friends into the crowd. Once they were far enough one of her friends asks, "You have the fun dip?"

"Yeah. It's right—No. I… I must have dropped it." She says as she frantically searches her purse and then looks up to her friend.

Oliver in the meantime walks towards a trashcan and drops the fun dip he pocketed from Thea into the trash. He looks around and spots Diggle who gives him an approving smile.

Nyssa and Ken walk towards Oliver who is looking at Sara dancing with her sister. "Oliver, it's time." Ken tells him as they reach him. Ken takes out the phone and shows Oliver that the money wasn't transferred. Laurel and Sara walk up to the group as Oliver gives a frustrated sigh.

"Is everything okay, Oliver?" Laurel asks with a bit of concern in her voice.

"I asked somebody to do something. They didn't do it. Laurel… I have to take a breather." He walks away from them, "Don't worry I'll go see what's wrong with him." Sara tells Laurel before she can say anything else and walks away after Oliver.

 **[Service Hallway]**

Oliver and Sara are walking towards an exit. "Something I can help you with, sir, mam?" asks a very annoyed Diggle.

"We just wanted a second to ourselves." Sara replies as she hugs Oliver from behind.

"I would believe you, Mr. Queen, if you weren't so full of crap. Party's this way." He motions to the double doors.

Oliver turns and walks towards the doors and tries opening one, "It's locked." As he turns to face Diggle who walks to the doors and as he puts his hand on the handle, Oliver puts him in a sleeper hold and knocks him unconscious.

 **[Hunt Multinational]**

"You two cover the elevator. Hang back and be ready. Stay in the corners and stay alert." Drakon instructs his security team before he closes the doors to Hunt's office. "It's past 10:00. He's never getting in here." Drakon informs his employer.

Meanwhile outside the building the SCPD is mobilized around the building covering all entrances into the building.

"All's clear." Quinten tells his partner who mumbles "Yeah." In response. While unknown to them, a specialized arrow is fired at the building hitting its mark outside Hunt's office, at impact the arrow latches onto the building securely forming a zip-line.

The lights go off and the guards look around making sure no one is there with them. The elevator dings and the doors open, two arrows fly out instantly killing the guards positioned to guard against it. As the bodies drop the woman in black moves out twisting her staff so that it becomes two batons and she swiftly takes out one guard with strikes to the head, spinning him around and using him as a shield as another guard opens fire. Having the attention of the final three guards her partner the man in the hood fires two more arrows into the guards knocking them down and then engaging the last guard in hand to hand combat.

In his office, Hunt waits behind his desk as Drakon and two other guards focus on the doors to the office. When, suddenly the doors are shattered as someone walks through, the guards open fire only to realize it was one of their own. As soon as the guards stop firing an arrow flies through the doors hitting one guard in the heart and killing him, at the same time the woman in back steps through and strikes the guard positioned behind the wall with her batons rendering him unconscious instantly. With the two immediate threats taken care of the arrow notches and fires an arrow at Hunt, missing and lodging itself behind Hunt's office.

"You missed." Hunt tells the hood as if to rub it in his face, who simply notches another arrow, "Really?" is he's only response but before he is able to release the arrow, Drakon steps out of the shadow and knocks the bow and arrow from his hands. The two engage each other in hand to hand combat. They trade punches and kicks neither backing down until Drakon pulls a blade out and lashes out at the hood who simply parries him taking the opportunity to grab his wrist and force him down into the ground before punching him in the face. Drakon recovers quickly and notices the gun laying not too far and dives for it, the hood noticing the movement sprints away trying to get to cover, and just as Drakon is about to fire, he jumps over Hunt's desk and in that moment, notices his partner swinging her staff down hitting Drakon in the head putting him down.

All the while Hunt has made his escape out and dialed the detectives down below. "He's here!"

"All units, converge! All units, converge!" yells Hilton as they move in on the building.

"You could have helped earlier you know." The man in the hood tells his partner who simply shrugs, "I like to see you work."

The SCPD finally arrive outside of Hunt's office, "Go right, go right. On me." Hilton instructs as they breach the office. As the officers breach the office one speaks, "Lay down your weapons, or we will open fire! I repeat, lay down your weapons." In an instant the hood fires an arrow disarming two officers easily as Hilton comes in and starts firing at the vigilantes who sprint into action, just seconds ahead of the shots until they reach a window and jump out the building.

Hilton and Lance walk to the window not believing that the vigilantes would jump to their deaths only to be further shocked as the man in the hood is zip-lining down onto the building across the street all the while holding onto the woman in black.

"Tell me you saw that." A bewildered Lance asks his partner who is still stunned by the events. Nobody noticing the arrow lodged on the wall behind Hunt's desk giving off a weak pulsing green light.

 **[Building across the street]**

"Ok. Let's go. Move. Cut it. Search the building roof to basement. Find him! Starling City police! The party's over, kids. Oh, Mr. Merlyn. Imagine my shock at finding you here. Did you roofie anyone special tonight, huh?" Detective Hilton spouts with venom in his voice.

"Detective! It's a private party." Ken says as he approaches the detectives, extending his hand to shake Quinten's hand.

"Yeah? Well, there was an incident at Adam Hunt's building tonight. You know anything about that?" Hilton replies turning to face Ken.

At that moment, Sara and Oliver arrive followed by Nyssa, "Who's Adam Hunt, daddy?" Sara asks Quinten.

"He's a millionaire bottom feeder, and I'm kind of surprised you aren't friends Merlyn." Hilton hisses out then looks at Oliver, "or you." Before anything further can be said Quinten looks at his partner, "You're out of line partner, that's family your speaking to." Pointing towards Oliver and Ken, completely forgetting about Tommy who had a hurt look on his face.

"Plus, detective, we've been out of town for…a while." He gestures to Sara, Ken and himself.

"Yeah. Well, he just got attacked by the guy with the hood, the guy that saved your ass the other day," he looks at Ken and Oliver who both give him a confused look before he continues, "And apparently, there are two more vigilantes, a man in a black robe with a black mask and a woman in black with blond hair." He looks at the castaways as if wondering if they could be the vigilantes but puts the thought behind him because one is the daughter of a cop and the other is a selfish billionaire.

"The hood guy. You didn't find him? We're going to offer a reward." Nyssa starts as Oliver climbs on stage to face the crowd, "Hey, everybody. $2 million to anybody that can find a nut bar in a green hood, a woman in black and a man in a black robe." The crowd breaks out in cheer.

"Ok. Let's go, partner." Quinten starts before Hilton looks at the group with disgust and walks away, Quinten giving them an apologetic smile and follows his partner out.

Sara having joined Oliver on stage looks at the crowd, "It's way too quiet in here! This is a party!" and on cue the music starts playing once again, lifting up the mood once more.

Tommy walks over to Ken and Oliver, "Some coincidence, I mean, you asking to have your party here, and Hunt getting robbed right next door and by the same guy who rescued us at the warehouse, who apparently has new friends."

Oliver looks at his old friend, "If I were you, Tommy, I'd just be glad you're alive." as he walks off with Sara to rejoin the crowd.

Tommy looking puzzled at his friend replies in almost a whisper, "What-h-happened to you on that island?"

Having heard Tommy's question, Ken looks over at him, "A lot." Was all he said as he took Nyssa and headed after Oliver and Sara.

 **[Hunt Multinational following morning]**

"What the hell are you talking about? $40 million doesn't just up and vanish! Untraceable?! It is $40 million! Find it! How did he do it?" Hunt is yelling at the phone as workers move around the office cleaning up. Hunt never noticing the arrow still pulsing from the wall behind him.

 **[Vigilante Base]**

Oliver sits at the base running to programs, one that oversaw the 40 million which was transferred to an account opened up through a shell company to make it untraceable. While the other program redistributes that money to the victims of Adam Hunt. He takes out his father's notebook and crosses out Hunt's name.

 _ **[Flashback- 5 years ago, on the life raft]**_

" _There's not enough for all of us. Save your strength. You and Sara can survive this, make it home, make it better, right my wrongs, but you've got to live through this first. You hear me, Ollie? You hear me, son?" Robert tells Oliver who is too weak from days out at sea. Sara is sleeping next to him burying her face into Oliver's shoulder._

" _Just rest, dad." Oliver tells his father, who looks back at him before making a decision. He reaches into his life vest and pulls out a gun, aims it at the crew member who yells, "No!" before Robert shoots him in the face causing the crew member to fall back into the ocean._

 _This wakes Oliver who looks at his father, "Dad?!" at Oliver's sudden movement Sara wakes up to see Robert point the gun at his head, "Survive. Both of you." And pulls the trigger ending his life as Oliver screams "No!" Sara cries out as well and both hold on to each other not wanting to let go._

 **[CNRI]**

"If hypothetically $50,000 magically appeared in your bank account, it might be best for you not to speak about it…to anyone… Ever. God, bless you, too." Laurel turns around to speak to her friend Johanna, "I just got a very grateful phone call from one of our clients against Adam Hunt."

"Me, too. Heh. It looks like Starling City has a guardian angel." Both women laugh still surprised by the events of the day, "Oh, and by the way, your cute friend's here."

Laurel spins around to see Tommy standing there, "You left the party pretty quick last night, even after I made sure the bar was stocked with Pinot Noir."

"It wasn't really my scene. I just went because of Oliver and Sara" She replies casually.

"I thought maybe you were surprised to find out Ken was married since you ran away after that." A slight tremor of jealousy escaping him.

"I'm not going to lie I did have my eye on him but no that's not the reason, I was working on the Hunt case and had an early meeting which I thought would go badly only to be pleasantly surprised." Laurel told him with a coy smile.

"Want to go to lunch and talk about us?" Tommy asked her sounding hopeful.

"Are you asking me out on a date Merlyn?" Laurel asked a bit of surprise I her voice.

Tommy smiled at her, "Yes, I mean when we thought the both of them we confided in each other did we not?"

"I agree that we did but I wouldn't exactly characterize us as an 'us,' Tommy."

"Then what would you call it?"

"A lapse."

"That's quite a few lapses… your place, my place, my place again." Tommy reminded her as she rolled her eyes at him.

"Oh, come on, Merlyn. We both know that you're not a one-girl type of guy."

"Depends on the girl." He shot back with a Merlyn trademark smile.

"I have to go back to work."

"Dinah Laurel Lance always trying to save the world."

"Hey. If I don't try and save it, who will?" She said as she turned her head to smile back at him before walking off.

Unbeknownst to them the man in the hood and the woman in back watched the exchange from the rooftop above, holding hands and smiling at one another as they continued to watch over what could be a second love story like theirs.

 _We said the island changed us. They have no idea how much. There are many more names on the list, those who rule my city through intimidation and fear. Every last one of them will wish we had died on that island._

 **[Back Garden of Queen Mansion]**

A man walks around the mansion to meet a woman in the garden as he nears her, he speaks, "The police failed to identify the men I hired to kidnap Oliver, and they never will." He stops in front of the woman, "Should we arrange another abduction?"

"No. There are other ways of finding out what my son and Sara know." Moira states as she turns around and heads back into the mansion.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Arrow or anything else you may recognize. All characters belong to their creators. With the Exception of Alddam Mastir (Ken Masters). Thea Dinah Queen (Tayr) won't be a big part of the main story line but she will be a huge part of the flashbacks. The reason I created her is to serve as a reason for Oliver and Sara to feel more human than warriors. She should serve as the light in their darkness. Also, unless otherwise stated the vigilantes (in gear) will have on their voice modifiers.**

 _[THUNDER CRASHING]_

 _The day we went missing... was the day we died. Five years in hell forged us into weapons, which we use to honor a vow we made to my father, who sacrificed his life for ours. In his final moments, he told us the truth... that our family's wealth had been built on the suffering of others. That he failed our city, and that it was up to us to save it and right his wrongs. But to do that without endangering the people closest to us, we have to be someone else. we have to be something else._

[ROOFTOP NIGHT]

The hood and the woman in black are standing on the roof as men start running at them. The hood uses his bow as a staff and engages the first guard, as he turns he hits another guard legs and drops him on the ground only to come up and fire an arrow at a third guard knocking him down with the force as the arrow pierces his shoulder.

"Who are they?" Screams Marcus Redman as he sees his guards fall in front of him.

As the hood moves closer to Redman the woman in black uses her staff on the wounded men knocking them unconscious so that they needn't worry about them later.

"Where'd they come from?" Yells one of the guards as the hood uses his bow as brass knuckles and beats the man unconscious. "Get the chopper back now!" Redman tells his guards as the hood turns to his partner and nods his head in the direction of the last two guards, instantly the woman in black breaks her staff apart and with a fury of shots placed expertly to the knees, hands, arms and head knocking him unconscious.

"What's going on here?" Exclaims the last guard standing as he notices that he's the last one standing and rushes at the woman in black. She smirks and runs at him as she strikes the right foot of the man flipping him over and then chopping at the man with her batons effectively putting him down.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Please, wait, wait!" Redman pleads as he slowly backs away from the hood and the woman in black. Not noticing the man in the black robe behind him until it's too late. As he turns around the man in the robe grabs him and throws him to the lower roof below on top of the ventilator fan. Redman screams as he is thrown and the man in the black robe jumps next to him and kicks open the grate covering the fan. Sparks explode from the fan as metal grinds with metal.

Redman manages a stifled groan as the man in the black robe grabs him and forces his head towards the fan stopping only inches away. "No? No, please! No, please, please!" he continues to plead until the woman in black speaks, "Marcus Redman, you have failed this city!"

"Please! No, please, no! Don't hurt me, please!" fear showing in the cries of Redman as he tries to squirm away from the grip of the man in the robe. The man in the hood disregards his pleas, "Cell phone, inside pocket, call your partner. Tell him to give those pensioners back their money." The man in the robe pushes Redman's face closer to the fan, "Oh, please don't!"

"Do it now!" roars the man in the robe causing Redman to stop struggling and quickly agree, "Okay." The man in the robe releases him and jumps down from the ventilator fan, the three vigilantes walk off into the darkness.

As they head back to their base their coms activate, "Beloved, Sarab has sent word that the new 'toy' is ready." The man in the black robe stops running and smiles, "Excellent, was he able to add the extras into them?" He watches as the hood and the woman in black ride off on their bike.

"Yes, Sarab said they have been made to self-destruct after a time if they are not deactivated. He has also added another feature, twisting the device in the opposite direction as if deactivating the device becomes a smoke grenade the explodes upon impact without the sonic wave being activated." Nyssa explained to her husband.

"Very well, they sound like a perfect addition to her arsenal. It's time to head home." With that Ken sprints from rooftop to rooftop heading back to base.

[QUEEN MANSION - DAY]

Ken and Nyssa head into Oliver's room to have a talk with the couple before heading out. Ken knocks on the door and he hears the shuffle of little feet coming to open it. Tayr opens the door and smiles at her aunt and uncle, "Morning!" Nyssa chuckles slightly, "Morning Tayr, how are you this morning?" Nyssa picks Tayr up and walk inside the room, "I'm ready to go, look at the pretty dress grandma got me!" She points to the dress she is wearing. Nyssa smiles and carries her off towards the mirror as Ken walks up to Oliver and Sara.

"Nyssa and I have spoken and we believe it's for the best if we moved into our own place that can double as a makeshift base for when we need to move quickly." Ken spoke as he watched his beloved with Tayr.

"Actually, we had a similar thought, it'd be better for our families especially if we're targeted." Oliver states as he adjusts his tie.

"It's getting harder to be alone and we don't want to leave Tayr alone with people asking what was so important we left our little bird behind with the nanny and guard." Sara adds before turning to Ken, "Do you think Nyssa would be okay getting a place for the four us?"

"I do not mind, we are family an unorthodox family but a family all the same." Nyssa says as she looks at them with Tayr nodding her head in agreement.

"There you have it, now it's just a matter if you wish to find it on our own or have Sarab help in the search for one." Ken adds in before they walk down to join the rest of the Queen family.

Oliver, Sara, Tayr, Ken and Nyssa walk into the sitting room where Moira Queen is sitting on the couch with Walter standing behind her and Thea Queen standing next to the couch.

News: Over the past 15 years, Mr. Redman has withdrawn more than 30 million dollars from the plant's account. Mr. Redman claims refunding the Halcyon pension plan has always been his intent. But sources say Redman was coerced by the vigilantes. A sketch of the Hood and the woman in black appears on the television with the caption reading MYSTERIOUS VIGILANTES.

Oliver extends his arm in disbelief toward the television, "This guy gets more air time than the Kardashians, right?"

"Five years on an island and you still know who they are." Thea looks at him in disbelief.

"We've been catching up. It's nice to see how much our culture has improved while we were away." Sara responds to the younger Queen.

"No, the city used to be different. People used to feel safe." Moira adds in as she places her newspaper down.

"Oh, what's the matter, Mom? Afraid we're going to be next?" Thea asks her mother.

"Do you have any questions about today, Oliver, Sara? It's a simple proof of life declaration and everything for Tayr has been taken care of so no need to worry." Walter tells the young couple who nod their head signaling they don't have any questions.

Moira stands up and Walter straightens his suit jacket. "Just read out a brief, prepared statement to the judge, and then your death in absentia judgment will be voided." Walter further explains, he then turns to Ken, "Have you taken care of your case or do you need help?"

"My father has taken care of everything as soon as we heard my beloved was alive. No need to worry about us." Nyssa responds as Ken puts his arm around her waist.

Oliver smiles and looks at Walter, "It's fine, Walter, I've been in a courtroom before." As Oliver speaks Tommy enters. "Four times by my estimate. You know, there was the DUI, the assault on that paparazzi douchebag, stealing that taxi, which was just awesome, by the way, and who could forget peeing on the cop?" he says as way of hello.

"I wish everyone would." The Queen matriarch responds.

Ken and Nyssa look at Oliver, "You really peed on a cop? We thought Sara was joking about it."

"Nope it happened once upon a time." Sara chimed in with an amused smile as if remembering the event in her mind which made Oliver look at her with a tight smile but instead of replying to her, he looks over at tommy, "We'd hang, but we're headed to court."

"I know, that's why I'm here. My best friend and his girlfriend are getting legally resurrected, I wouldn't miss this for the world." He says with smile on his face. Oliver gives a slight smile in return before replying in a whisper, "Right. Okay," he turns to his sister and back to normal volume, "What about you?"

"Oh, I think the first four times of you in court was enough for me." She tells him as she walks away from the group. "Fair enough." Oliver replies but can see that he's a bit hurt by it.

Diggle enters the room and turns to the Queen matriarch, "Mrs. Queen? Car's ready." He then walks right back out of the room followed by Moira and Walter slowly followed by the rest of the group.

[COURTHOUSE DAY]

As soon as the car pulls up to the courthouse the press surrounds them, "Mr. Queen, can we get a comment, sir?" a man asks as a woman also tries to get their attention, "...return to civilization after five years on a deserted island."

"Can you tell us what happened on that island, Mr. Queen, Ms. Lance?"

 _[FLASHBACK]_

 _Oliver and Sara are thrown from the bed they were sitting on as the boat starts to sink. Sara screams as Oliver makes his way to her and are swept by the ocean._

The family exits the car and are bombarded with questions about the accident, "Tell us about the accident, Mr. Queen." The press continues, "5 years on an island." The only thing on Oliver and Sara's mind is their daughter who thanks to Vicky and Anna is already inside the courthouse waiting for them.

 _[FLASHBACK]_

 _Oliver emerges from below the water and frantically searches for Sara. When his father, Sara and a crew member find him and help him on board. Oliver once on the life raft reaches for Sara's hand and takes her in his arms._

[INSIDE COURTROOM DAY]

"There was a storm. The boat went down. We were the only survivors." Oliver states as the people in the room see how hard it is for him to speak about the accident.

 _[FLASHBACK]_

 _The boat is sinking and rain pours from the sky. Oliver, Sara, his Father, and another man are on a life raft. Oliver and Sara are holding on to each other afraid to let go lest the ocean takes the other away. With tears in his eyes Oliver remembers that Sara was almost taken away from him and that thought is too much to bare, he realizes it and finally admits it, "I love you Sara."_

"Mr. Queen didn't make it." Sara continues to speak because she knows that every time Oliver talks about his father all he can think about is his final act of love for his son.

 _[FLASHBACK]_

 _His Father holds a gun to his head. Tells them to survive and right his wrongs._

" _No!" Oliver screams as his father pulls the trigger._

"We almost died, W... we thought that we had, because we spent so many days on that life raft before we saw the island." Oliver continued glancing at Sara in thanks for helping him.

"When we reached it, we knew... We knew that we were going to have to live one for the other." Sara adds as they squeeze each other's hands in comfort the weight of their small lies building because no matter what they said they knew the truth to Roberts death.

"And in those five years, it was that one thought that kept us going," Oliver started and Sara quickly continued, "But then among the chaos of the island we were given a gift, another reason to keep fighting and live. Our daughter, Thea Dinah Queen." As she finished the murmurs coming from the limited press that was admitted into the room caused the Judge to quiet them down or be removed from the room. They looked at the family and sure enough sitting on the lap of a young woman was a child no more than four, looking at her parents in the middle of the room with a sad smile on her face.

"Your Honor, we move to vitiate the death in absentia filed after Oliver's and Sara's disappearance at sea aboard the Queen's Gambit five years-ago. Unfortunately, we will not be requesting that the declaration of death filed for the petitioner's father, Robert Queen, be rescinded. The Queen family is only entitled to one miracle, I'm afraid." The family lawyer concluded.

Oliver and Sara walked over to the young woman, Vicky, and took Tayr from her. They hugged her tightly because she also knew the truth about her grandfather having visited his grave on the island multiple times.

[COURTHOUSE ON THE WAY OUT]

"Now, onto the offices. Everyone is waiting to meet you there." Moira told Oliver who glanced at Ken who simply nodded. A conversation spoken in a single glance, "Alright mom, I can't wait to see how much its changed in these five years, he replied."

"Uh, Ollie, that was, uh...a little bit heavier than I was expecting it to be. Me and Nyssa are going to head home, okay?" Sara said as she carried a sleepy Tayr in her arms. Oliver smiled at his two greatest loves and nodded in understanding, "Of course." She gave him a thankful smile in return, "Thank you."

Walter and Moira say their goodbyes to Sara and Nyssa as they head out in another direction so that the press doesn't catch them. Walter turns to Oliver, "See you at the offices then, we'll be leaving first." Oliver nods and smiles at his mother.

Oliver, Ken and Tommy run into Laurel heading up the steps, "I... Hi. You just missed Sara, Nyssa and Tayr." Oliver tells her. "Oh, hey sorry I couldn't make it I was helping a client prepare for what's about to happen." She tells him with an apologetic smile on her face.

Ken smiles in understanding, "It's fine Laurel we understand, you fight for the innocent."

Tommy watches the exchange feeling left out and finally speaks, "Hi," is the only thing he can say and Oliver tries to fight back a smile.

"What are you doing here?" Laurel asks him. "Oh, they were bringing my best friend and his girlfriend back from the dead. Legally speaking." He adds.

Oliver looks at the one person he doesn't recognize and extends his hand in greeting to Emily, standing to the right of Laurel. "Hi, Oliver Queen and this is my fellow castaway Ken." Emily shakes his hand. "Emily Nocenti."

"Well Emily from my understanding you're in very capable hands." Ken smiles at the women.

"Sorry Ollie, Ken but we have to get going, I'll see you guys later. Excuse me." Laurel walks past Oliver and Tommy. "It was nice to meet you." Emily says before following after Laurel.

[OUTSIDE COURTHOUSE DAY]

Ken walks out first closely followed by Tommy and Oliver. The press doesn't swarm them as they are too busy questioning a man at the moment.

"Mr. Somers, one question, sir." A reporter asks.

"I don't know what I've done to earn this witch hunt from Miss Lance and her bosses at the CNRI. But I can tell you this. I am an honest businessman, and I will fight this slander to my last dime and breath. That's all I have to say, thank you." Somers states before walking away.

Leaving the reporters trying to talk amongst themselves before someone spots the trio heading down the courthouse. "There's Mr. Queen!" The press turns around and bombard them with questions, "Tell us what happened inside, Mr. Queen… Is it true you have a daughter?"

Diggle walks with Oliver, Ken and Tommy to the car pushing the press out of the way. "Step back everybody, please." Diggle tells the press as they continue to question the castaways. "Can you give us a couple comments about the island, Mr. Queen, Mr. Masters? Before you go, sirs, please. Couple of comments about the island, sirs." Oliver and Ken keep quiet just trying to make it to the car, "What happened in there?" Is the last thing Ken or Oliver hear before they step into the car while Diggle try's to back the press away, "All, right? Everybody step back."

"Hey man, I'll make you swallow that Nikon! Back!" He roars as he is finally able to close the door when, suddenly the car takes off leaving Tommy and Diggle behind. "This happens to you a lot, doesn't it?" Tommy asked feeling sorry for the bodyguard as Diggle is obviously frustrated.

[MEANWHILE INSIDE COURTROOM DAY]

"How much is a life worth? A life of a man, a good man, a stevedore on the docks of the city in which we live." Laurel begins.

"A father. A man with a daughter. The plaintiff will prove by a preponderance of evidence that Victor Nocenti learned that his boss, that man sitting right there, Martin Somers, was taking bribes from the Chinese Triad to smuggle drugs into our city, and when Victor Nocenti threatened to tell the police, Martin Somers had him killed."

 _[FLASHBACK]_

 _Somers is standing while two men drag Victor Nocenti towards him. They force him to kneel in front of Somers as one tilts Nocenti's head back and cuts his throat open. As Nocenti begins to choke on his own blood filling his lungs._

"Mr. Somers is very well-connected, and has friends in the District Attorney's office. Which is why, if Emily Nocenti is to get justice for her father's death, if Martin Somers is to get justice for his crimes, then someone is going to have to do it for them." Laurel finishes.

[WAREHOUSE DAY]

Sara is in her workout clothes which show off some of her scars from the island and starts climbing a thick rope using just her arms. _Martin Somers. Laurel's targeted the worst of Starling City, so it's no surprise his name is on Oliver's father's list_. Nyssa is practicing sword skills on metal bars.

 _The city's police and the D.A. can't stop him, or won't. Laurel thinks she's the only one willing to bring him to justice. She's wrong._

[SHIPPING DOCK WAREHOUSE]

"You, listen up. The longer this goes on, the more likely the media is going to crucify me. You shut this trial down, do you understand me?" Somers tells on of his men. "Yes, sir." Comes the reply before electricity crackles and the lights flash off and on during which time you can hear blows from a staff connecting to the men guarding Somers. All that can be heard after are the moans of the men falling to the ground unconscious.

Somers looks around as the lights finally come back on. The three men in the warehouse are lying on the ground, face down, not one was able to draw their weapon. "What... What..." Somers begins to babble when suddenly he is pulled away by a quick rope around the neck.

Somers' comes to with an upside-down view of the woman in black and a new figure, a woman dressed similar to the man in the black robe except that her mask is more of a sheer scarf covering only her nose and mouth while leaving her eyes open; her attire forms to her figure and is accentuated with dark red and unlike the man in the robe she wields a bow and sword.

"Martin Somers..." Comes the distorted voice of the woman in black. "Who the hell are you?" Somers cuts in before the woman in black continues as if he hadn't spoken, "...you've failed this city!" The woman with the bow lodges an arrow and aims at Somers.

"No! No, no, no, no, no!" He begins to beg as the arrow flies too close for comfort next to Somers. The woman in black speaks again, "You're going to testify in that trial. You're going to confess to having Victor Nocenti killed. There won't be a second warning." And with that the other archer lets another arrow fly that grazes Somers' right cheek making it bleed. Sommers shuts his eyes and in screams in pain but when he opens them up again the two women are gone.

[QUEEN CONSOLIDATED]

"I hired you to protect my son. Now, I'm not a professional bodyguard, but it seems to me that the first requirement would be managing to stay next to the man you're hired to protect." Moira short of yelling speaks to Diggle.

"With all due respect, ma'am, I never had a client who didn't want my protection." Diggle responds trying to not sound as frustrated as he truly is.

"I hired you. That makes me the client. Now where do you think my son is going on these chaperones less excursions?" She asks the bodyguard who looks at her and answers in all honesty, "Ma'am, I truly do not know."

Oliver steps out of the elevator and into the reception area of Walter's office. "And he truly doesn't."

Moira turns to her son, "Then perhaps you'd like to share with me, you know, where it is you run off to." Oliver chuckles "We've been on an island for five years."

"I know that, Oliver." Moira begins but is cut off by Ken appearing right behind Oliver, "And on the island, there were things that we missed and now that we're back we can't seem to get enough of." Looking down at the to-go bags from Big Belly Burger.

"I see." Moira smiles at her son and is glad that he is eating properly, if not healthy.

"I promise to stop running off on Mr. Diggle but with the swarm of the press we just wanted some air to breath..." Oliver looked at his mother and let out a frustrated sigh.

"Good, I'd rather you two take Mr. Diggle with you on your next craving run. It's not safe, you've already been abducted once. There are maniacs out there, hunting the wealthy." She tells Oliver and looks at Ken who nods sympathetically at the worried woman.

"That maniac saved my life." Oliver begins but Ken cuts him off, "It's better to be safe than sorry, look at it from your mother's prospective, she's lost you once before and I don't think she could live through it again." Moira gives Ken a thankful smile as Oliver nods in defeat.

"Okay. Dig's my guy." He mutters after a few seconds. "Thank you. Now I'll be waiting in Walter's office for you two." She says as she steps through the double doors, leaving Oliver, Ken and Diggle alone.

Oliver looks at the man, "Sorry to give you so much grief."

"I served three tours in Afghanistan, Mr. Queen. You don't even come close to my definition of 'grief.' But I tell you what... You ditch me one more time, no one will have to fire me." Diggle replies before moving to the end of the room where he can view the entire area and look for threats.

[QUEEN MANSION]

Sara and Nyssa enter and pass Thea dressed in a red dress. "Where you going?" Sara asks the younger Queen.

"Uh... Somewhere loud and smoky. And don't bother telling Ollie, I'm just going to go get drunk instead." Thea responds.

"Thea, do you think that this is what your dad would want for you?" Sara asks her with a bit of concern in her voice.

"Dead people don't want anything. It's one of the benefits of being dead." Comes the dark reply.

"Oliver and I were dead. And we wanted a lot."

"Except for his family. He's been home a week, and all he does is avoid Mom, ignore Walter, and judge me." Thea says letting the mask she wears crumble a little. Sara sighs, "If that was true we wouldn't have named our daughter after you, Thea. Ollie's been through hell not just protecting me but our child as well. He had to grow up in the span of a couple months, and each time we talk about his ways before the island, he admits that he wasn't the greatest of men because he took everything for granted. He matured speedy, he became the man that your father saw he could become. It's not that he is judging you, he just cares about you and wants you to be safe. He doesn't want you to go through hell in order to change."

Sara and Nyssa leave her to her thoughts as they walk up to Oliver's room to check up on Tayr.

[SHIPPING WAREHOUSE AFTER THE ATTACK]

Hilton, Somers, and a group of policemen are in the warehouse. "Well, I owe you an apology, Mr. Somers. We come all the way down to your docks, and it turns out, you don't need the police after all." Begins Hilton as he looks at Somers with a bit of disgust.

"Which is exactly what I've been saying." Somers replies through gritted teeth, "Yeah. So, I guess tha call that we got an hour ago, from your stevedore, saying that you were getting attacked by a woman in black with a silver staff… I I guess...I guess that, well... Hmm. Was that a practical joke?" Hilton spat back.

"These guys like to fool around." Somers replied with some threat to his voice. "Yeah." Hilton scoffed at the man. "Well, you know, I'd be very much inclined to believe an honest, upstanding businessman like yourself, except, well, one of my men found this at your docks." Hilton pulls a black arrow with red markings on the fletching.

"You see, there's these vigilantes running around. They think they are some kind of Robin Hood's. They are robbing the rich, trying to teach them a lesson I'm guessing. I don't know, I don't know. But the point is... these people are killers. And nothing, and no one, is going to stop me from bringing them down. But like you said... clearly, nothing happened here last night."

Somers turns to Quinten who had stayed away from the conversation, "Isn't this a conflict of interest, Detective? After all, your daughter is suing me." Quinten looks at him, "I'm pretty good at keeping my emotions in check."

"I'm not." Somers stands up and threateningly gets in Quentin's space. "You and your daughter don't want to find out what I'm capable of when I get emotional."

Quentin walks and the other policemen walk out. Somers looks nervously at the arrow on his desk.

[QUEEN CONSOLIDATED – EVENING]

Walter gets up and walks towards Oliver and Ken who have just walked in after Moira. He shakes their hands, "As you can see, Oliver, we've modernized quite a bit." Oliver looks around the Office and adjacent conference room and lets out a small whistle.

"Are you enjoying yourselves?" Moira asks as Oliver and Ken look back at her after checking out the office. "Yes, I am but I don't know about Ken." Oliver looks to his brother in arms, "Oh, I am. The place just screams advancement to me." He finishes with a smile at Moira and Walter.

"I remember when your father used to bring you here when you were a boy. You always were so excited." Walter reminisces as he looks at Oliver, "Dad let me drink soda in the office."

"Ah, so that's why you enjoyed coming." Moira rolls her eyes at the thought.

"The Queen Consolidated success of late is a result of its targeted diversification. We have been making impressive inroads in cutting-edge fields like bio tech and clean energy." Walter explains to both of the young men.

"That's neat." Ken replies looking over at Oliver who has the same look on his face as his own, they have no idea what Walter is talking about.

"Sweetheart, Oliver, Walter and I have something to discuss with you. Come, please sit." Moira motions to the sitting area in Walter's Office. "Mom, it makes me nervous when you ask me to sit down."

"The company's about to break ground on a new site for the Applied Sciences division, and we would like to honor your father by dedicating the building in his name." Walter explains.

"Nice." Oliver says with a small grin before his mother knocks it off his face, "And we'd like to make an announcement at the dedication that you will be taking a leadership position in the company."

"No." Oliver quickly replies but before he can continue his mother interjects, "No, your... Your company. You said that you were a different person. You are Robert Queen's son."

"I don't need to be reminded of that." Oliver tells her but she doesn't see the pain that comes to his eyes at the mention of his father. "Well, obviously, you do." She responds clearly upset that her son hasn't matured.

"Everyone here understands that this transition is really difficult for you." Walter comes to Oliver's aid sensing that he had wanted to explain.

"Thank you, Walter. What I was trying to say was that I am not ready for such a position, I thought it'd be best if I shadowed Walter or another executive to get an idea of what I would be dealing with, instead of jumping straight in." Oliver tells his mother.

Moira smiles and starts walking towards her son, no longer the selfish boy, no he had grown into a fine young man and unfortunately it had taken a tragedy to awaken him. She looks at Oliver and hugs him tightly, her small boy was now on the path of becoming a great man.

"You know, five years ago, your irresponsibility was somewhat charming. Now, this new you is what your father and I always believed you could be, and I couldn't be more proud." She sheds a single tear from the emotions swirling inside of her.

"Oh, but I have one condition" he looks over at Ken whose eyes widen knowing what was coming and trying to silently convince him to change his mind to no avail, "I want Ken to join me because I want both of us to learn how to properly run a business." Oliver declares.

Moira smiles and nods her head in agreement.

[QUEEN CONSOLIDATED NIGHT]

Diggle walks out of the building ahead of Oliver and Ken to keep them away from the press but someone spots the, "There they are!" A horde of reporters is on top of them trying to get them to talk and trying to get the best picture of the two castaways. Diggle escorts them through the horde of reporters, and once Diggle opens the doors to the car they all get into the backseats of the car.

"The driver will be here in a minute." Diggle tells the brothers. "Okay." Oliver replies as he is deep in thought.

"You know, I spent the first 27 years of my life in Starling City, and the next five in Afghanistan. You want to know what I learned?" Diggle asks both castaway's, "There's no place like home?" Ken chimes in.

"No, just the opposite. Home is a battlefield. Back home, they're all trying to get you. Get you to open up, be somebody you're not sure you are anymore." Oliver slightly nods in agreement, everyone expected him to be the same boy that sailed off, even his mother thought he was the same moments ago, but thanks to Walter he was able to explain himself.

Oliver seems lost in thought so Diggle continues, "Or I could be wrong. Maybe after five years alone, you guys are not as messed up in the head as you have every right to be."

 _[FLASHBACK]_

 _Oliver and Sara are lying on the ground with a makeshift shelter they made to keep the sun off of their already sunburned bodies. They here seagulls squawking in the distance causing Oliver to look in their direction to notice that they are on top of his father._

" _Hey!" He screams as seagull's swarm around the life raft that had washed onto the shore. "Hey, get away!" Oliver starts running toward the raft. "Hey!" His voice is horse from thirst and dehydration. There is an orange bag over the head a body in the raft._

" _Dad?" Oliver kneels by the raft and takes the hand of the dead man. He jumps up and starts throwing up, collapsing on his hands and knees._

 _Seagulls get louder and try to get close to the raft. Oliver scrambles back toward his father._

" _Hey! Hey, stay away from him!" He starts to cough._

" _Ollie?" Sara looks around to find him by his father's body. She makes her way to him and by the look he gives her she knows what he wants to do so she decides to help him. Oliver lifts his father's body over his shoulder. Oliver starts walking away with the body as Sara follows close behind him fresh tears forming as she sees the man she loves carrying his dead father._

[CNRI NEXT DAY]

Johanna, Laurel, and Emily are walking together, "Well, we anticipate that Somers' attorney will try and paint you as blinded by grief or looking to make a buck." Laurel explained to the young woman.

"This isn't about the money. I just want justice for my father." She looked at Laurel with a determined expression. "Emily, there are a lot of people who don't want this trial to proceed. Dangerous people." Laurel told her, not trying to scare her but telling her the truth of the matter.

"My mother died when I was a baby, and my father has been the only family I've ever known and they slit his throat. They are going to have to kill me if they want me to give this up." Laurel could see that Emily was ready for whatever came in order to pursuit justice for her father's murder.

"Well, let's hope it doesn't come to that." Laurel told Emily as Quinten and Hilton walked in followed by several officers. "And it won't." Hilton looked in the way of the three women.

"What's going on?" Laurel asked her dad with a note of concern in her voice,

"What's going on is that the three of you are getting around-the-clock police protection. Okay? Get used to their faces, because they're going with you everywhere you go. No arguments." Hilton told the three women.

"She's a lawyer. She lives to argue." Quinten told Hilton

"You're her father. You should want to keep her safe." Hilton shot back at his partner. "Um, Emily, let's go grab a cup of coffee, okay?" Johanna grabbed Emily and walked off. "Yes, why not do that? Thank you." Hilton spoke to a pair of officers, "Please, go with them."

"Protective custody? I seem to recall my father trying that once I discovered boys. It didn't work then either." Laurel told Hilton. Quinten sighed knowing that this was going to happen.

"This isn't a joke, Laurel. Martin Somers got attacked yesterday." Hilton told the young woman he had come to see as part of his family after years of being partners with Quinten.

"What?" Laurel looked at her father who nodded, "Yeah."

"By who?" She questioned trying to find out more, "It doesn't matter. Point is, you have whipped up a storm with these guys, and until the dust settles you'll be protected, okay? End of discussion." Hilton said as he turned around and walked away, leaving the Lances to talk.

Laurel thinking this was her father's idea looked at him, "That might have worked when I was eight. But it's not going to work anymore."

"That's exactly what I told Hilton but he is adamant in protecting you Laurel, you're like another daughter to him." Quinten explained trying to make his daughter understand.

Laurel sighed and resigned herself to protective custody, Quinten smiled at her and hugged her, "Thank you, now take care sweetie." He walks out of the building after his partner.

[SHIPPING WAREHOUSE]

Somers is sitting at his desk a woman walks in wearing a red dress. "Thank you for coming."

"Anything for a friend." The woman responds politely.

"We're not friends. You smuggle drugs, I let you use my port."

"For which you're paid a lot of money." She reminds him.

"I don't get paid enough to have arrows shot at me. You need to take these guys seriously. They are a bigger threat to your operation than Nocenti ever was." He shoots back. "Except now it's Nocenti's daughter who's the problem. Unlike your woman in black, we know where to find her."

"Don't be an idiot. You take out Emily Nocenti, and Laurel Lance will never let this go. She won't stop until she burns you, me, and then the entire Triad to the ground." Somers tells her almost losing his calm.

"Then we kill Miss Lance." The woman turns around and leaves, Somers looks on nervously hoping nothing goes wrong.

[OLIVER'S ROOM]

Oliver is changing clothes and is currently looking at the news while Sara is showering and Tayr is with Nyssa. His shirt is off, showing the scars in his back, sides, and arms.

Newscaster: Attorney for shipping magnate, Martin Somers, has confirmed his client has no intention of testifying, maintaining his innocence in the wrongful death of Victor Nocenti. Nocenti's body was found four weeks ago, we'll keep you updated as more information becomes available.

Thea walks into the room and sees Oliver's scars as he puts a shirt on. "Wait, how did you get those?" Thea asks him as her eyes fill with tears, for the first time she is seeing physical proof that her once carefree brother had gone through hell and back just to stay alive, and these were only the visible scars, what else had he gone through?

Oliver replies back a bit frustrated "Don't you knock?" Thea pulls back his shirt to get a better look at his scars. Oliver frowns at his sister's insistent behavior, he had never wanted her to see.

"No, wait... Mom said that there were scars, but... I I'm... Oliver, what happened to you out there? I mean Sara told me you went through hell and back for her and Tayr but Ollie, what happened?"

"Thea, he doesn't want to talk about it." Sara says as she walked out of the bathroom. She raises her hand before Thea can say anything, "You don't get it Thea, the memories that come back every time we talk about it, even amongst ourselves bring back all of the pain, we don't just mean the memories but our bodies remember the pain that created every scar so, we try to leave the past in the past."

Oliver closes and buttons his shirt. Looks at the floor before speaking, "I never wanted you to see, Thea because I am afraid of how you'll see me now, I'm afraid you'll see me as damaged, as broken."

Thea hears the pain in his voice, a voice that was always so cheerful now so broken with fear that she would never see him the same way ever again.

"Of course, you aren't. You lived through it all and then came back to me like you said you would, and I'm sorry I've been so hard on you, I never imagined you having to live through literal hell." As she began to cry, Oliver walked over and hugged his sister, the third most important person in his life besides Tayr and Sara. He felt guilty that he had caused her even more pain but just as he began to blame himself he felt Sara wrap her arms around him. She always knew when he was thinking the worst. They stood there in a close hug until Thea spoke, "Do you have a second, both of you?"

"Yeah of course speedy," Oliver told his sister, "let us finish getting dressed first." He and Sara walk back to where they had laid their clothes and finished putting them on.

"Good. I want to show you something out back." Thea told them as she walked out.

Thea lead Oliver and Sara outside and walked out back with the mansion in the background.

"Sometimes, when I felt... Whatever... I'd come here." She tells Oliver who looks at where she is pointing, His and his father's gravestones, one says: ROBERT QUEEN 1958 2007 A leader, a husband. Thea kneels in front of the gravestone and starts dusting off the bottom. "About a month after the funerals, Mom stopped going out. Pretty soon, she stopped talking altogether."

Oliver looks at the stones as Sara grabs his hand and squeezes gently, Thea stands, "The house got so quiet, so I'd come here. To talk to you." Pointing to the other gravestone. The stone says: OLIVER QUEEN 1985 2007 A loving son and brother, whose light was dimmed far too soon.

"I mean, stupid stuff. Like what I was doing that day, what boy I had a crush on... And then sometimes, I'd ask you, beg you, to find your way home to me. Now, here you are. And the truth is, I thought I knew what pain was having lost my brother and father at the same time but after seeing your scars. I realize that what I experienced was heaven compared to your hell. So, please Ollie forgive me and let me in, I don't want you to be who you think I need to see you as, I want to see the man that Sara says you are."

Thea hugs him once more before leaving him and Sara still looking at the gravestones.

[LAUREL'S APARTMENT NIGHT]

Laurel is sitting in a chair, leaning over her laptop listening to music and going over case notes, there's a knock on her door. She looks at the door cautiously and decides to see who it is. Laurel answers the door and sees Oliver with Sara, she smiles and lets them in.

"Hi. Are you okay? There are two cop cars outside." Sara asks her sister.

"What are you guys doing here, and where's Tayr?" Laurel asks them as she hugs them.

"Nyssa and Ken took her to the movies." Oliver replied, "Thea pointed out to us that we have been distant since we got back and that... It would probably be a good idea if we let somebody in." Sara added.

"So, you thought you'd start with me?" Laurel asked sounding a little bit honored.

"Well technically we started with Thea, she was the one that pointed it out." Sara tells her older sister.

Laurel smiled at the pair, "Come on in guys, what's in the bag anyway?"

They walk around the apartment. "Wow. This place hasn't changed in five years." Sara says as she looks around her sister's apartment.

"I haven't really had time to redecorate." She quips back.

Oliver swings the brown paper bag in his hand. "We thought about many things on the island, but there was one thing that we thought about every day. I actually dreamed about it, and we promised ourselves that if we ever got a chance to do it again, we'd do it with you." Oliver holds up a tub of ice cream, "Eat ice cream." Oliver sits on the floor as Laurel and Sara sit on her couch eating ice cream. He puts the ice cream on the table.

"This is as good as I remember." Sara tells them both savoring every spoonful.

Laurel smirks. "You always did love eating junk food over proper food." Both sisters laugh as Oliver just enjoys Sara laughing.

"You know, after five years, we have plans. I have things that I have to do, and Ollie has things he wants to do within the company to make his father proud." Sara tells Laurel, who having known the two before the island, is slightly taken aback.

"Oliver? Wow. You guys have really changed for the better, haven't you?" laurel asks them not wanting to sound too surprised.

"I believe we have because we are no longer alone, we have a daughter that comes before all else. We want her to be able to look back and be proud of us." Oliver replies with a hopeful look in his eyes that is matched in Sara's.

To Laurel there is only one thing that describes both of them right now, the thing she hoped one day to achieve, unconditional love. She smiles at the thought of her sister and Oliver getting married and raising a family but it's more than a feeling, she can see it.

The moment is lost when both Sara and Oliver hear a thud coming from outside. "Did you hear that?" Oliver asks, "What?" replies Laurel but Sara knows that the question was meant for her.

She listens closely and sure enough, the sounds are footsteps coming from the fire escape, Oliver quickly takes the butter knife he used to open the ice cream and stands up.

"There's someone on the fire escape." Sara whispers and Oliver nods.

Laurel is still confused by the change of atmosphere, "Wh What?"

Sara grabs Laurel's hand and starts running with her. "Hey, come on... Come on!" Sara yells at her sister as they try to exit the apartment when a man breaks through the door with a machine gun. Oliver pulls both Sara and Laurel the other way.

The man starts to fire but Oliver had gotten them out of the way just in time, Laurel screams as another man crashes through Laurel's bedroom window. He also begins to fire but by this time Oliver had gotten Sara and laurel into the kitchen and shielded them.

More gunshots are heard and this time a body drops, one of the intruders. Diggle aims at the other goon and fires taking him out as well when the woman from the warehouse enters and puts her hands up for a fight holding two daggers in each one. The woman runs at Diggle and knocks the gun from Diggle's hands and they fight.

Oliver is struggling with whether or not to help or keep his skills secret, he looks over at Sara who nods in agreement, Laurel's safety was the priority. Oliver leaves their sides and runs out of the kitchen still wielding the butter knife. The woman during this time had managed to pin Diggle but not before he knocked one of her daggers out of her hands. She raises her hand to stab him but Oliver throws his knife with deadly accuracy and knocks the woman's knife away.

The woman is shocked and her instincts tell her to escape so she gets up and runs out of the apartment. Laurel and Sara both run out to see if Oliver and Diggle are okay. Diggle stands and gets his gun and looks at Oliver, "Are you hurt?"

"No." Oliver tells him softly.

Diggle looks at Sara, "Are you hurt, Ms. lance?"

"No! No." Sara tells him trying to comfort Laurel.

"This is why it's a good idea to have a bodyguard." Diggle tells them both as they hear sirens in the distance.

"Hey, you okay?" Sara asks her sister who is still shaking from the incident.

[LAURELS APARTMENT LATER THAT NIGHT]

Several cops and medics are in the apartment. Diggle, Laurel, Sara and Oliver stand watching. Quentin walks in, he hugs his daughters tightly. "Daddy!" Laurel says as her father and sister continue to calm her.

"Oh, thank God. Thank God. Are you all, right?" He asks all of them. "We're okay. Those cops that Hilton put on Laurel..." Sara is talking as Quinten tries to answer, "They... uhh…"

"I went outside to ask for a light, and they were both dead in the squad car." Diggle says so that Quinten didn't have to. Laurel covers her mouth in shock as fresh tears start to fall from her eyes.

"It's okay. Mr. Diggle, thank you. Feel free to run as many red lights in the city as you want." The detective says to Diggle who shakes his head, "I was just doing my job, sir."

"No, your job is protecting Oliver and Sara. I owe you for protecting all three of them, thank you." He smiles as he resumes hugging his daughters.

"Dad!" Sara whines trying to get her dad to let her go so she can leave with Oliver.

"It's okay daddy we're safe, plus I need to go check on Tayr." Sara insists as Quinten finally lets her go at the sound of his granddaughter's name. She gives him a reassuring smile and give one last hug to Laurel before she makes her way out with Oliver hand in hand as Diggle follows them.

[QUEEN MANSION]

Diggle is sitting down in the kitchen tending to his wounds when Oliver tosses a towel to him and starts walking away. However, Diggle stands and walks after Oliver, who turns around and begins to speak, "I'd say thank you, but I don't think that would cover it Diggle."

"Well, like I told your cop friend, I was just doing my job. Besides, I think it should be you that I'm thanking." He responds hinting at a hidden meaning but Oliver acts confused, "What for?"

"The knife." Diggle says giving him a meaningful look but again Oliver plays it off, "The knife. I got lucky."

"That was a butter knife. It wasn't even weighted properly, yet you threw it with accuracy across a 10-foot room." Diggle says sounding impressed.

"Exactly. I got lucky."

"I'm not the kind of man you want to take for a fool, Mr. Queen. You understand me?"

"Yes."

"And I think I'm just beginning to understand the kind of man you are Oliver."

"Shouldn't take you very long. I'll do anything for the one I love and I'm also very tired, so... Good night."

Diggle smirks, "Good night, sir."

[ARROW BASE]

Oliver is dressed as the hood and the man in the black robe is standing next to him. He is putting on his gloves as he begins to think, _we wanted to give Martin Somers the chance to confess and face a court's justice, but he chose to go after someone we cared about instead._

The hood puts on his belt and quiver, turning around and putting his hood up. _He's still going to face justice._ He opens a crate and takes out his bow. _It'll just be a different kind._

[SHIPPING DOCK WAREHOUSE]

Somers is packing files into a briefcase with one of his guards by his side. "Triad bitch screwed up the hit on Lance. Now, the Triad is going to erase every ounce of evidence of their smuggling operation, including me. Except that's not going to happen. Tell Wallace to get the boat ready. I'm leaving tonight."

"Wallace? Wallace, you copy? Wallace?" The guard tries to communicate with the man keeping guard.

There's white noise when the walkie connects and someone answers, "Wallace isn't here. But I am." Comes the modified voice of the hood.

"We need to move, now. Move!" Sommers screams as he heads towards the exit. His guard follows him with hesitation, "Sir, we've got six men up there."

"It's not enough. Move it!"

[BACK AT LAURELS]

"Is there any way I can get you to go back into that courtroom tomorrow, and recuse yourself from this case? Or drop it. Either way, please Laurel." Quinten looks at Laurel pleadingly.

"If you think I'm going to abandon Emily Nocenti, then you don't know me all that well." Laurel shoots back clearly still upset.

"I do know you but I had to at least try, if not I wouldn't be much of a parent." Quinten says as Laurel stands up. "I know daddy, I'm still shaken by the whole thing, but if no one fights for what's right then what good is the law?"

"Being a cop I know how you feel, I just want you to be smart and take care of yourself instead of being reckless."

"It's not about being reckless! It's just the opposite. I'm trying to make this city safer, just like you."

"Sweetie. You're my daughter, Laurel. You're just like me and that's what I'm afraid off."

Quinten's cellphone goes off, he takes it out and answers, "Lance."

"Sir, we got a report from the warfside, Somers Imports." Comes the dispatcher through the speakers.

"I'll be right there." He hangs his phone up and looks at Laurel, "I have to go. Something's going on at the docks."

[SHIPPING DOCK WAREHOUSE]

Somers men are firing after the hood as he shoots an arrow into a man killing him before jumping along the high metal beams and jumping to the ground, crouching. He shoots another man. A third man rounds the corner with a machine gun but he is so focused on the hood he doesn't see the man in a black robe until it's too late, five powerful strikes to the throat later, he drops like a sack of bricks. The hood smirks at his brother because although you can't see his face, the hood knows he's sporting an amused grin on his face. The hood jumps over the side of a fence in the warehouse. The man in the robe follows through higher ground and noticing two more shooters approaching throws two torpedo throwing knives hitting their marks dropping the two men instantly. The hood runs down the stairs and nocks another arrow. He shoots another man, who is trying to locate the intruders, who falls off of a ledge. The hood sees Somers run into a different warehouse. "Somers!" The hood yells as he gives chase.

The man in the black robe follows at a distance and staying on rafters allowing the hood to chase their mark. He watches over his student proudly. The hood enters the warehouse catching up to a panting Somers. He shoots an arrow into a wooden crate next to Somers' head, as he screams in fear, "Oh, God, no, no, no." he pleads to the hood.

"He can't help you. You should have listened to my better half." He shoots another arrow onto the other side of Somers' head. "I want the truth about Victor Nocenti!"

"I can't. The Triad will kill me." Somers continues to plead.

"The Triad's not your concern right now." The hood shoots another arrow between Somers' legs.

"All right, all right, all right." Shaking slightly, "It wasn't me that killed him. It was the Triad."

"Acting on whose instructions!?" The hood roars before shooting again, this time above Somers' head. Somers screams as the hood asks again, "Whose?"

"All right, all right. It was mine. It was mine, all, right? Nocenti said he was going to testify against me." Somers reveals but something catches his eye's behind the hood who in response turns around and sees the Woman that attacked them in Laurel's apartment.

"Yuǎnlí tā (Move away from him)." She tells the hood who in return speaks back, "Ràng wǒ (Make me)." The hood and the Woman rush towards one another and engage in combat. They both are very skilled, notes the man in the black robe as he watches from up high not wanting to disturb his students fight. Sirens can be heard getting closer as the fight between the two fighters continues until finally the Woman knocks the hood to the ground.

"This is the police. Drop your weapons."

The hood and the Woman run in opposite directions. Ken after considering his options runs after his student to make sure he doesn't run into problems, "You are surrounded. Come out with your hands in the air."

The hood makes it outside not swarming with cops and climbs over a storage unit. He starts to run and stops at the click of a gun. "Freeze! You twitch and you're dead. Bow down, hands up." Yells Quinten behind him. Just as the hood is preparing to do something he sees slight movement in the darkness and smirks, a torpedo throwing knife comes through the shadows and hits the gun out of Quinten's hands and impales it into the container behind him. Before Quinten regains control a flechette impales the container next to his gun with a recording device attached, Quinten looks back to where the hood was standing but he has already vanished.

All that remains of the man in the hood is the blinking flechette next to his gun on the storage unit, Quentin carefully presses a button on the blinking arrow, "All right, all right. It was mine. It was mine, all, right? Nocenti said he was going to testify against me." Comes the confession of a terrified Somers.

Quentin looking around, "You son of a bitch."

[BASE – EARLY MORNING]

The hood puts his bow away, as Ken puts his projectiles away. _Laurel was right. We changed for the better, I am no longer the spoiled Billionaire my mother lost all those years ago, and in order to keep the promise I made to my father,_ the hood and the man in the robe start to take off their vigilante gear, _I have to be the person I need them to see me as, Robert Queens son._

[ROBERT QUEEN MEMORIAL APPLIED SCIENCES CENTER]

"Oh! Excuse me, ladies," Tommy says as he walks over to Laurel, "Okay, this is a surprise. Did you show up here by mistake?"

"By invitation. Oliver and Sara invited me last night."

"Last night? You didn't by any chance tell them about us, did you?"

"Is that surprise or shame I'm hearing?" Laurel says dryly.

"Look, I just don't want them to find out anything, okay? Oliver and Sara have been through a lot, I don't want our close group to tear apart after we were just reunited."

"Tommy, we've all been through a lot." Laurel tells him, still not fully aware of the hell that the two castaways truly faced.

Before Tommy can say anything, else Walter speaks up from the podium, "Good afternoon. And thank you all for coming. Welcome to the future site of the Robert Queen Memorial Applied Sciences Center." Everyone applauds.

"Now, this is a building that will stand as a monument to the man whose company and vision are only but two of his greatest legacies." Walter finishes as he sits back down next to Moira and Oliver rises to take his place at the podium. H looks back and sees Ken, Nyssa and Sara all nodding towards him in encouragement.

"Hey! Thanks for warming them up, Walter," Oliver accepts the shovel from Walter, then faces the crowd once more, "Some of you may not know me. My name is Oliver Queen. I'm kind of famous right now. Mostly, though, I'm famous because I'm Robert Queen's son. Uh, but as Walter, was saying, I'm not much of a legacy, per se, because before the island I had no future, I was a mess but when I fell in love with a certain detective's daughter, I began to see a future, a future that my father must have always seen for me." Oliver voice cracks slightly, "Oliver, you don't have to do this if you're not ready." Walter whispers to him but Oliver shakes his head and regains his composure, "No, I'll be alright," he whispers back before speaking to the crowd once more.

"See, I was supposed to come here today, and I'm supposed to take my rightful place at the company. Prodigal son returns home and becomes the heir apparent, but I'm not my father. I'm not the man he was. I'm not half the man he was. I may never be, but I will never stop from trying to be the man he saw I could become. So, please, just as this new building is a symbol for the man my father was it will also serve as a symbol for the man I can become."

Oliver walks over to the site and sticks the shovel into the dirt and lifts the first scoop for the new site. Thea watches in shock and Moira puts her head down, holding back tears. They have started to see the man that Sara and Robert always saw him as.

[CNRI]

Laurel, Emily Nocenti, and Johanna watch the news report.

Newscaster: _Martin Somers, the CEO of Starling Port, was arrested last night for the murder of Victor Nocenti. He is also being accused of accepting cash, including over $10 million in bribes._

Johanna turns off the TV. "Well, we can pursue the civil suit if you want, but the D.A. now has no choice, with Mr. Somers' confession, to prosecute him."

"He's going to jail, Emily. For the rest of his life." Laurel adds in.

"Thank you so much for fighting for us." Emily replies.

"Well, thank you for being brave enough to let me." Laurel tells her with a smile.

Emily Nocenti walks away just as Quentin and Hilton walk in, "Hey."

"I thought I didn't need police protection anymore."

"I thought I didn't need a reason to see my own daughter."

"You don't, but he does," Laurel points to Hilton, "Hmm. You look tired."

"Yeah, we were filling out reports on the shootout at the port last night," Hilton starts and Quinten finishes, "and getting grilled about how I let that archer get away."

"I have to admit, I'm kind of glad he did. He brought down Martin Somers." Laurel tells them both.

"He hurt a bunch of people doing it, okay? He is no hero. He is an anarchist." Hilton replies.

"Yeah, well, whoever he is, it seems like he's trying to help." She looks at him determinedly.

"The city doesn't need that kind of help, it's like I always told you, you don't need to go outside the law to find justice." Quinten says calmly as his partner is a little more emotional, "Now I believe that. All right? And I promise you, when I catch this guy, he's going to believe it, too." And with that Hilton turns and walks away.

[QUEEN MANSION]

Sara stands over Oliver who sits at his desk with Tayr on his lap, who similarly has the book in hers. She opens the book and crosses off "Martin Somers." She looks up at her parents who smile back at her.

 _[FLASHBACK]_

 _Oliver carries his dad's body over rocks with a weak Sara following him. He's using energy he doesn't have but he struggles on. He lays his dad's body on the ground and sees the book in his dad's pocket. He opens the book to see blank pages, aside from a circular design on the inside of the front cover. He looks to Sara who is also looking at the book wondering what the design could mean._

[BRIDGE]

A limo pulls up next to a silver car. Moira gets out of the car and into the limo. 'Well, you saw for yourself. My son knows nothing. Robert didn't tell him anything that could hurt us. And he has no idea that the yacht was sabotaged." She tells the man hidden in the shadows holding a book with the same circular design.

[QUEEN MANSION]

Oliver, Tayr and Sara stand looking at the gravestones with two workers behind them and Diggle standing by the car. Oliver kneels in front of his father's stone with the book in hand, Tayr imitates her dad and kneels at the gravestone as Sara hugs her from behind and puts a free hand on Oliver's shoulder in silent support. "All that time on the island, plotting our return, we didn't realize how hard it would be. To reconnect with Mom, Thea, Laurel, Quinten. Okay, we didn't... we didn't know how painful it would be to keep these secrets. You asked us to save the city. To right your wrongs. We will. We swear. But to do that, we can't be the same old Oliver and Sara that everyone wants us to be, which means that sometimes... To honor your wishes... We need to dishonor your memory. I'm sorry."

Before they stand Tayr kisses her grandfather's gravestone, "We promise." Oliver can't help but shed a tear seeing his daughter talk to the gravestone with such conviction in her small voice. They finally stand and Oliver sighs and as they walk towards the car he points to his gravestone, "Take it down." The workers walk toward the gravestone and begin to work.

"Will you be going out tonight, sir, mam, little miss?" Diggle asks the three.

Oliver looks at the man, "Definitely."

 _[FLASHBACK]_

 _Oliver and Sara pick up rocks and put them on the grave they made for Robert Queen. Sara rests for a moment before she looks back at Oliver and her eyes widen when she sees a handmade arrow going through Oliver's right shoulder. He screams in agony but before she can try and comfort him another arrow comes flying towards them but this one hits her instead of Oliver. She screams in pain and before they both pass out from the pain Oliver looks around and sees someone in a green hood standing on the rocks by the water. The person puts another arrow on their bow and aims. "No, no..." Is all he manages to say before unconsciousness reaches him and the world goes black._


End file.
